Happy Eternally Ever After
by mandzipop
Summary: Kai never made it to Ric and Jo's wedding. No sleeping beauty spell & Damon takes the cure. Delena move away to live happily ever after as humans. Or at least until Kai & the heretics with Lily's help, return & are on the hunt for revenge on the entire Mystic Falls Gang. Now Delena are powerless & helpless, or is there a supernatural loophole? A Delena story. Rated M for smut.
1. The Ceremonies

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).**

 **I apologize about Guardians of the Cure. At some point I will revise it, so that it works, but I want to see how Legacies pans out as I would like there to be as much canon included as possible.**

 **I hope everyone likes this story. If you do, please press the like, or follow buttons.**

 **The Ceremonies**

Damon's his forehead against Elena's, them both slightly breathless brought on by their climax's from making love. Hay was prickling Elena's back, but she didn't care. She was in the arms of the man, or currently vampire she loved, and this could possibly be the last time they made love to one another while he was a vampire, therefore comfort came secondary to the pleasure of being together in the most intimate way. This could also be the last time they didn't have to concern themselves about contraception.

Elena didn't want the moment to end as Damon kissed her, his fingers ghosting down the side of her body. Elena recognized this sign, his recovery was nearly over and he'd be ready to make love again in a matter of seconds. Damon had a voracious sexual appetite, and it appeared becoming human hadn't quelled Elena's either. A single touch from him had the potential to turn her into a quivering mess filled with desire. She just hoped Damon's sexual needs wouldn't be dampened as a result of becoming human.

Suddenly Damon lifted his head and frowned. Elena continued kissing Damon's neck as she didn't want this moment to end and was ready for more, but whatever had caught Damon's attention through his vampire hearing was clearly distracting him from the task at hand.

"Um, I think it's starting." Damon told her as shock hit Elena. She thought they'd only been in the loft for half an hour. The ceremony wasn't for another two hours, there was no way they'd been up there all of that time.

Elena pulled away from kissing Damon's neck. "What? No! What time is it?" she asked as she turned over and looked at her phone to look at the time, only to see five missed phone calls and more than twenty text messages from Caroline. "Oh my god. No, no, no, no, we're so late." she cried in panic, as she sat up and started putting her clothes back on.

"Well, you're the one who couldn't keep your paws off me." Damon protested as Elena frantically threw his shirt at him.

"Damon, put your tux back on." Elena demanded.

"I am, I am." Damon smirked then began to laugh at her sense of panic while they get dressed.

Once they were dressed and vaguely presentable, they quickly made their way downstairs, although they still looked slightly disheveled, complete with with sex-hair and several stray pieces of hay stuck in their hair and clothes. Once they reached the wedding room, they found a very unimpressed looking Caroline waiting for them as they walked in.

"Well, I hope it was worth it." Caroline snapped as Elena picked a piece of straw out of Damon's hair.

"Actually..." Damon smirked.

"Ick, gross!" Caroline interrupted him, cringing with disgust. "Not the time, okay? Have you seen Bonnie or Matt?" she asked.

Elena frowned. "They're not here yet?" she asked, worried, knowing something must have happened to them.

"Ohh, just go, go. Go, go, go." Caroline sighed with frustration.

"Okay." Damon smirked as he and Elena started to make their way down the aisle to cue the beginning of the wedding. Elena placed her arm in Damon's, however when they looked up to where Ric was stood, they realized they were the wrong way round, so they swiftly swapped places and continued walking until they finally made it to the alter. They both took their spots, Elena on Jo's side and Damon behind Ric.

"And so?" Ric asked Damon, eager to know his best friend's decision.

"Looks like I'm joining the human club!" Damon told Ric as Elena smiled at him coyly from across the aisle. "It's a big night for both of us." he added.

"I'm proud of you." Ric whispered.

"You, too, buddy." Damon smiled.

Damon and Ric were both distracted as the music started up. They turned to see a stunning looking Jo walking down the aisle, surprisingly escorted by her father. The crowd watched them as they approached Ric, the bridesmaids and groomsmen at the altar. Eventually the music stopped and everyone was in position, as the Officiator began to address the audience, although whether Ric heard him was unclear as he seemed to be in a world of his own, stunned speechless by the sight of Jo. As they faced each other, their smiles of happiness couldn't be more obvious than if they'd placed a message on the back of a plane saying 'I love you'.

"Welcome, family and friends." The Officiator smiled at the audience. "On this magical evening to the wedding of Alaric Saltzman and Josette Loughlin. Josette and Alaric have prepared their own vows." he told them.

"Ahem." Ric cleared his throat nervously. "Neither one of us should be here right now. We've spent our life dodging fate and beating the odds." he started as Damon and Elena stared at each other happily, sharing in their own private declaration of commitment Damon had made earlier, momentarily ignoring the speech Ric was making, before turning their attention back to the ceremony.

"But, because we did." Ric continued. "I got to meet you, the most beautiful, hilarious and intimidatingly brilliant woman I have ever known. You inspire me, you've shown me that happiness is actually something that I can have in my life. And so..." Ric took the ring from Tyler. "I promise to be with you, and love you, and to dodge fate with you for the rest of our lives." he continued as he put the wedding ring on Jo's finger, which prompted Jo to begin to cry.

The Officiator turned to Jo. "Josette?" he smiled.

"Oh god, that's a tough act to follow." Jo said with a panicked voice, causing everyone to laugh. "Here it goes... Alaric Saltzman, you are... an exceptional human being in every way." she started.

Damon glanced over at Elena and smiled, causing her to lower her eyes and blush. As he did, Elena realized, that even now, after all of these years together, he could make her feel like a teenager with a schoolgirl crush. Except Damon was real, and he was hers, and about to become human for her. She wasn't sure when he planned on taking the cure, although he had hinted it would be that evening. But as happy as she was about the prospect of them growing old and dying together, Elena had to admit their was a niggling doubt in the back of her mind whether Damon was doing the right thing. Some people were born to be vampires, and like Caroline, Damon was one of them. It was his identity, and he was prepared to give it all up for her. Elena found it a strange mixture of romantic and overwhelming. However, deep down Elena was also concerned about the man Damon would become.

Stefan had warned Elena about Damon's personality when he was human. He was sweet but lacked direction. If this proved to be the case once he became human again, he was going to end up depressed and potentially resentful of giving up his life as a vampire, and this was something she didn't want to feel responsible for. Of course, Damon had stipulated he'd made the decision for the both of them, and it wasn't doing it just for her. The life he said wanted with her was based on having a human life with a family. But it had been a long time since Damon had been human and Elena didn't know if having a family and children of his own was something he'd ever even wanted back then. Today, what Damon had done was more than your average marriage proposal, and it had taken a lot of courage on his behalf.

Elena just hoped Damon didn't change much when he became human again. Her own experience had already taught her the bloodthirsty nature of a vampire was something which disappeared. However the rest of her new personality traits had remained. Elena hadn't returned to the pre-vampire version of herself. Instead all she'd lost was the urge to kill, the penchant for violence and the desire to drink blood. Everything else remained the same. Emotionally things didn't feel any different. Although she may have been so completely used to heightened emotions, she'd learned how to deal with them. Once they'd disappeared, she'd stopped trying to do anything about it and had been left feeling exactly the same. If anything, her feelings for Damon were more intense than they'd ever been, even before she asked Ric to compel her memories away.

"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride" The Officiator announced.

Clapping from the audience brought Elena out of her thoughts as she glanced up at Damon who frowned with concern. Elena smiled and mouthed the words "I love you." to him. A huge grin erupted on his face as Jo and Ric began to walk back down the aisle, now as a married couple. Damon took Elena's arm as they followed them through the vast amounts of confetti which was now raining down upon them.

Damon leaned over to Elena's ear. "Do you wanna do this one day, with me?" he asked in a low voice.

"Is that a proposal?" Elena whispered.

"It might be." Damon shrugged.

"Only if we do it before you take the cure." Elena told him.

"Why?" Damon frowned.

Elena turned her head and looked at Damon in surprise. "Don't you want Stefan to be there?" she asked. "Once you've taken it, we're going to have to disappear off the face of the planet to make sure you're safe. You'll never see him again. He's your brother, you at least owe him that." she said as they continued to slowly follow Ric and Jo.

"I guess." Damon frowned. "This is not some ploy to stop me from taking it again is it?"

Elena laughed. "You've made your point very clear, I know you want to take it. I won't stop you. But I think we ought to do the marriage thing while we can be with our loved ones." she smiled.

"Deal!" Damon whispered. "We could even use it as our goodbye party, and when we slip off on our honeymoon, we vanish and never come back to Mystic Falls." he suggested. "And for wherever our honeymoon takes us, we'll both be in need of sunscreen, and daylight rings will be a thing of the past. Although, if I get my way..." he smirked.

"Then yes Damon. I will marry you." Elena smiled. "Although I do expect a real proposal." she winked. "Down on one knee and all."

"I have already gotten the most fabulous engagement ring for you." Damon smiled. "But it cost more than Ric's salary, so proposing here, tonight, might not be a good idea." he added.

"You didn't have to go to extremes." Elena chided.

"Oh but I did." Damon grinned as he pulled Elena in towards him and they began to kiss.

"Eww!" Elena heard Caroline's voice. "Kiss for the camera was meant for Ric and Jo, not you two." she said, stood glaring at them with her hands on her hips.

"I can kiss Elena whenever and wherever I want Blondie." Damon said pointedly as he kissed Elena once more. "Only Elena is allowed to tell me to stop." he smiled.

"Well as the fill in wedding planner, it is my responsibility to know whether you have your speech ready." Caroline snapped.

"Yeah yeah. It's right here." Damon patted the breast pocket on his jacket. "Although Ric would probably prefer it if I had forgotten it." he grinned.

"Ugh! Please don't say it's dirty." Caroline narrowed her eyes.

"The dirtiest." Damon taunted her.

"Well, don't forget there's a whole coven of witches ready to take you down with a big headache if your not careful." Caroline crossed her arms smugly. "Bonnie, Matt!" she called out as Damon and Elena turned to spot the latecomers. "Okay, so what was your excuse, and it better be a good one." she asked.

"Flat tire." Matt sighed.

"C'mon Damon." Elena pulled on Damon's arm. "Let's join the party." she insisted.

After the meal and speeches, came the music, dancing and drinking. Damon's speech had gone down a storm, as although it was filled with tales of their drinking exploits, there was nothing too incriminating to embarrass Ric with which could be relayed at a wedding.

As much as Damon and Elena wanted to make their own announcement public, this was Ric and Jo's day, and they were not going to spoil it by stealing the limelight away from the happy couple. Instead they told those who they deemed important enough to be invited to their own wedding. Elena had already decided she wanted Caroline as her wedding planner, as they wanted to get things moving as quickly as possible, and knew how well she'd organized her Liz's funeral. Elena also felt this would give Caroline something to do to occupy her and help her with her grief. They were going to need someone extra efficient, as they planned to marry one week after Jo and Ric returned from their honeymoon in Europe. That gave them three weeks to prepare.

Those three weeks flew by. Miraculously, although unsurprisingly, with Caroline at the helm, everything was planned and ready with a day to spare. Elena had Caroline, Bonnie and Jo as her bridesmaids, while Jeremy was back from hunting vampires to give her away. Stefan was Damon's best man and Ric was his groomsman.

Damon had spent two nights in New York with Stefan, Ric (who had been back from his honeymoon just three days), Jeremy, Matt and Tyler for his bachelor party. Elena had very reluctant to let Jeremy go with them, but he was almost nineteen, and was probably going to get up to worse at college. She just hoped Matt and Ric would keep him in check and away from Damon's bad influence. Whether they were able to or not, Elena never found out, as there seemed to be an unwritten bachelor party code, whatever happened in New York, clearly stayed in New York as nobody would tell her anything about their adventures.

Elena herself was thrown a bachelorette party by Caroline, Bonnie and Jo. Jo got her revenge by hiring a stripper in the guise of a doctor before they head to the grill and eventually a club after Jo left, too tired to carry on as a consequence of being pregnant. The next morning, Elena experienced her first major hangover since becoming human again, and for a moment, while her head was in the toilet and she was vomiting, she wished she was still a vampire. The healing properties of vampirism certainly did have it's perks at times. Elena just hoped Damon realized how little he would be able to drink once he became human again.

Finally the big day arrived. Elena wore a white dress, made with a sleeveless tulle, organza and hand-beaded embroidered lace ball gown with double lace shoulder straps, sweetheart neckline, drop waist, chapel length train. Instead of a veil, Elena had opted to wear an intricately hand made white gold hair comb, coupled with crystals and ivory pearl beading, imitating flowers, berries and leafs, to hold her hair in place. Her earrings were white gold drops, with diamonds, pink sapphires and pearls. The overall look was chic yet subtle and understated. Once she'd finished getting ready, her three bridesmaids, who wore pink, looked as though they were all ready to cry when they saw her. Caroline, Bonnie and Jo left her time to be alone for a few minutes to compose herself.

Elena had gotten ready in Stefan's room as he'd been charged with guarding the dress from Damon's prying eyes. Although Elena suspected Damon didn't care what she wore, as long as she was there for them to seal their lifelong commitment towards one another. As she gave herself a final check over, she noticed Stefan's reflection in the mirror, standing in the doorway, watching her, in almost the exact same way as Damon did on the night of her eighteenth birthday.

"Hey." she smiled at him as he walked in.

"Hey back." he smiled. "You look beautiful. My brother is a lucky man." he told her.

"Thank you. I promise to try not to cry." she shrugged.

"Oh I think you have every right to cry." Stefan narrowed his eyes, as he walked towards her. "Look I just need to say something..."

"Stefan." Elena sighed. "I'm not sure this is the right time. You know, just before my wedding."

"Hear me out." Stefan insisted. "When we first started dating, at first I thought my brother wanted to be with you just to spite me. And in all fairness, that was probably a little bit true. He definitely didn't want you because you looked like Katherine. But along the way, you showed him something he wasn't used to, kindness and compassion. A willingness to forgive him. It was all he'd ever wanted from someone. And because of that, he fell in love with you, despite you looking like the woman he hated the most in the world." he took a deep breath. "I trusted you and was absolutely sure you'd never fall for him. Well at first I didn't. I knew you'd never cheat on me, but I wasn't blind Elena. The signs were there the night Damon tried to get Katherine from the tomb. I felt jealous of the way you held him. I was almost glad he snapped Jeremy's neck, when he was wearing the ring. I was absolutely convinced you'd never forgive him, but you did. Not over months or weeks, but days. I should have known then. But I continued to ignore the warning signs."

Stefan..." Elena interrupted, but Stefan shook his head.

"Wait." he told her. "Look, I was kidding myself. Although you chose me as a human, I now doubt we would have lasted any longer than we did when you turned. You'd have gone searching for him, because even though you didn't realize it at the time, you were hopelessly in love with him. You were just scared of the implications and hurting me." Elena frowned in sympathy. "I thought you came into my life because you were my soulmate, but I now know, you were fated to come into my life because you are his soulmate, not mine, and he is yours. The both of you defied all of the odds, and no matter what fate handed you, you were inseparable. No matter what it was, including death, you overcame it. Now I see, I was just your first obstacle." he initially lowered his eyes before looking at Elena once more with a smile. "But I am glad you ended up with Damon. You gave me back my brother. Sadly, today you're about to take him away from me. And yet, I'm happy, because for the first time in his entire life, Damon is happy. He is giving up everything to be with you, to build a life and family with you. So Elena, I need you to promise me one thing, that you'll try and make it worth it for him. Make him happy."

Elena turned to Stefan and smiled. "I promise." she said.

"And one more thing." Stefan frowned. "If you and Damon have kids, at least find a way to let me know, so I can watch over the future generations of Salvatore's after the both of you are gone." he said sadly.

"I will." Elena agreed. "It'll be nice to know my family are being looked after." she smiled warmly.

"Just don't tell Damon I asked you to. We're not supposed to keep in contact." he choked back a laugh.

"Ric, Jeremy, Caroline or Bonnie will let you know." Elena nodded. "We're not completely cutting off from our friends.

"Just me?" Stefan raised an eyebrow.

"We're only going to be using email where we can't be traced." Elena told him. "It's your choice Stefan, we could still..." she started.

"No!" Stefan stopped her. "If I here how you are, and what you're doing, I'll want to know where you are and come and see you. But when the time comes, I'll want to know about any nieces or nephews when Damon is dying." he said sadly.

"Of course." Elena put her hand on Stefan's arm in a gesture of support.

"Ahem." Came Jeremy's voice, clearing his throat dramatically to announce his presence as Stefan and Elena turned to see him standing in the doorway. "Do you wanna go and your best man duties?" he asked Stefan.

"Um, yeah... I should go find Damon." Stefan frowned as he kissed Elena on the cheek. "Good luck." he smiled before leaving the room.

"What did he want?" Jeremy scowled after Stefan had gone.

"He just wanted to thank me for giving him his brother back." Elena told him.

"Um, aren't you two like, going to disappear from him?" Jeremy frowned.

"Yeah." Elena nodded sadly. "He means the last few years when they finally got close again." she said as she felt a sadness tug around her heart, threatening to turn itself into tears.

"Hey, it's a happy day." Jeremy insisted as he saw the signs of sadness on Elena's face. "Only tears of joy."

"I promise." Elena choked back a sob.

"So, don't be creeped out, because you're my sister and all." Jeremy rolled his eyes. "But you look really beautiful. Damon is going to go crazy when he sees you." he told her proudly, prompting a smile from Elena. "We need to get going, your carriage awaits." he added as he held out his arm and Elena took it.

Outside, there was indeed a carriage with two horses. It was a small nod to Damon's past, being the type of carriage from his previous era as a human. But it just made Elena feel like she was living out every little girl's wedding fantasy. She was especially fortunate to met her soulmate with her own Prince Charming, although most people would beg to differ about him being charming. To others he was more like Prince, cocky, sarcastic and arrogant, but with her he was different, and that was all that mattered. The only piece missing from her wedding was her parents and Jenna, but she knew she couldn't dwell on that, otherwise she'd ruin her make-up, and Caroline would probably kill her. Jeremy helped Elena step up and get inside the carriage, where Bonnie and Jo were already waiting. As Caroline had been the wedding planner as well as a bridesmaid, she'd already left to go and ensure everything was perfect before Elena arrived.

Damon and Elena had decided to get married in a barn similar to Ric and Jo's, which was attached to a local hotel. It had been expensive, but Damon had insisted he'd waited a hundred and seventy four years for this day and he wanted everything to be perfect, even if the gathering was only small. The one relatively important person missing from the proceedings was Damon's mother Lily. It turned out Matt and Bonnie hadn't been late due to a flat tire, they'd been dealing with Lily. Initially they wanted to kill her, but she'd managed to reason with them, telling them if they did, they'd make an enemy of both Enzo and Stefan, and they'd both come to kill them.

Realizing Lily was right, Bonnie placed the desiccation spell on her, until they were sure Damon and Elena would be as far away from Mystic Falls as possible, cloaked and unable to be traced using a locator spell. Stefan and Enzo hadn't been happy with what they'd done, but Lily was a dangerous distraction at a time when they should all be celebrating a happy time for everyone. Eventually Stefan and Enzo agreed, as long as Lily was woken after Damon and Elena were back from their honeymoon and settled into their their new lives. Bonnie had promised she'd wake her in three months, giving everyone time to adjust to their new circumstances.

Twenty minutes later, the carriage pulled up outside the converted barn. The small gathering were already inside waiting for her. Caroline and Stefan were at the entrance as they were the cue to start proceedings. Eventually when it was Elena and Jeremy's turn to enter the barn Boccherini's Menuet Célèbre filled the air. Damon and Elena had chosen that particular song as it meant something special to them both. The song had been playing when Elena was introduced and descended the stairs at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant before she and Damon danced together. It had been the first time she'd noticed Damon in any way other than being Stefan's big bad older brother. In some respects, it was the start of things for her, and apparently for Damon too, as that was the day he realized he was falling in love with her.

As Elena and Jeremy slowly made their way down the aisle, Damon initially refused to turn to look at her. But when Ric nudged him, he turned around and saw her for the first time. Damon's face was a picture of shock and adoration. Elena's wasn't much better. Damon always looked fabulous in a suit, and today he was wearing a charcoal suit and black tie. He had a red rose boutonniere, which matched Elena's bouquet, which was made up of white calla lilies and red roses.

Eventually they made it to the alter. Jeremy gave Elena a peck on the cheek before handing her over to Damon, giving him a scowl as he did so. Normally Elena would have expected a smirk or sarcasm from her husband to be, but today she could see he was truly nervous.

"I've never seen you look more beautiful." he whispered to her, causing Elena to blush, as they took their places in front of the officiator.

"I would like to welcome you all, family and friends." The marriage Officiator smiled at the audience. "On this beautiful afternoon to the wedding of Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert. Both Damon and Elena have already prepared their own vows." he told them, looking at Damon.

They'd written small parts of their vows together so they would say something similar about their commitment, but the rest they'd written alone themselves, and this was the first time either of them were to hear the vows in full.

Damon cleared his throat and took Elena's hands in his. "Elena Gilbert, the first time I met you, I thought you were someone else, the woman, who at the time, I thought was love of my life. An easy mistake under the circumstances." he said as the crowd who knew about Katherine laughed. "But it turned out I was right, you are the love of my life. We have experienced trials and tribulations, life and death, even passed through time and space to be together. Yet no matter what, nothing can tear us apart. You, Elena Gilbert, showed me how to be a man again. You showed me compassion and forgiveness, where nobody else did. You showed me what true love really means. You are the light to my darkness, my humanity, my love, my soulmate, my everything. And I promise to walk to the ends of the earth to be with you, support you and maybe guide you, although that's probably not a good idea." he frowned, bringing a ripple of laughter from the audience. "Until the day we are temporarily separated by death." he continued. "After that I want to spend the rest of eternity in whatever comes after this life with you. I love you Elena Gilbert." he added as Ric handed him the platinum ring, which he placed on Elena's finger, as she began to cry with joy and emotion over his words.

"Oh my god." Elena wiped a tear away. "That was beautiful." she said as Damon smiled warmly at her. "I'm not going to beat that, but here we go." she said, taking a deep breath. "Damon Salvatore. When we met, at first I only saw you as my boyfriend's, older bad boy brother. As far from the type of man I thought I could ever fall in love with. But no matter how hard I tried to resist it and deny it, the pull to you was too deep. I just couldn't shake you. The odds were always stacked against us, yet no matter what decision I made, whatever fate was supposedly meant to have designed for me, I always ended up making my way back to you. You just snuck up on me without warning, and consumed my whole being. You are the person who owns and protects the darkest parts of me. You define me. Your love for me is unconditional, even on my worst days, you look after me. You showed me what it was like to live and be free. You are my best friend, my partner, my lover and my soulmate. I promise to be by your side, in good times and bad, through sickness and health, until the day we are temporarily separated by death. After that I want to spend eternity in whatever comes after this life. I love you Damon Salvatore." she said, as Ric handed her the other platinum band, which she placed on Damon's finger. They then held hands once more for the next part.

"Do you, Damon Salvatore, take Elena Catherine Jane Gilbert to be your lawful wedded wife?" the Officiator asked.

"I do." Damon smiled, as the Officiator turned to Elena.

"Do you, Elena Catherine Jane Gilbert, take Damon Salvatore to be your lawful wedded husband?" he asked.

"I do." Elena replied, trying to hold back the tears.

"By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife." the officiator announced. "You may kiss the bride." he told Damon, who wrapped his arms around Elena's waist and pulled her in close as they kissed to rapturous applause, until they eventually they broke away and stared at each other lovingly in the eyes.

"I love you Damon Salvatore." Elena whispered.

"I love you Elena Salvatore." Damon smiled back as they both looked at the audience. "I think it's time to get this party started." he, as they left the alter to a shower of confetti.

 **For the dress it is the David Tutera Arwen, 215277, although I changed it to white.**

 **If you like the story, please like, follow or review. Reviews inspire me, correct my mistakes, allow me to engage and answer questions. They also help motivate me to get the following chapters out quicker.**

 ** **Mandzipop****


	2. The Long Hard Goodbye's

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).**

 **I'd like to thank everyone for their lovely reviews. They mean the world to me.**

The song Damon and Elena had chosen to dance to was one where they felt the lyrics aptly described them. If they were to have chosen a song which meant something to them, they would have chosen Close to You by Calvin Harris as that was the song playing when they danced together at the Whitmore college frat party, just before they got together. But, they decided it wasn't exactly something to slow dance to, instead they opted for an old song which had been released only three years after Damon broke out of the Augustine's. Ben E King's Stand By Me.

At the time it was released, the song would have plagued Damon had he have had his humanity on, but due to leaving Enzo behind to die, or so he thought, he'd turned his emotions off. Only now, with his wife at his side, could he truly appreciate the song, which they both felt was perfectly apt for their first dance as man and wife.

When Damon pulled Elena close to him as the music started up, even though they were dancing in front of an audience, this was the first time they'd had a private moment together. As they gracefully moved around the dance floor, they became caught up in their own little world, as everyone disappeared into thin air, and nothing else mattered, as long as they'd got each other. This time, unlike their first public dance, they were free to show their feelings for one another. Elena wrapped her arms around Damon's neck and pulled him in so their foreheads were touching.

Elena wished they weren't in the middle of their wedding. Instead she wanted them to be alone, tearing off each other's clothes, and she suspected Damon felt the same way too. However they would have to wait until later that night after the party, where they would spend their first night together back at the house for one last time before they left to go on their honeymoon, a destination Damon had been very cagey about. They weren't due to fly until the next afternoon, so they had plenty of time to make the most of saying goodbye to the people they loved before they disappeared to Houston, Texas.

Damon had told Stefan they were moving north west, but he'd lied. He couldn't have Stefan knowing anything about his and Elena's future life together because it could put them both in danger should anyone find out who Damon was and what his blood would carry once he'd taken the cure. In all likelihood, he'd be a target for vampire wannabe humans, which would kill him if they took it. Therefore he'd already gotten fake id's and also ensured Elena got a place at the med school. The other perk to Houston was if they did have a problem, they had Original vampires to fall back on as the flight was less than two hours to New Orleans. This wouldn't have been an option a few years ago, but Caroline had Klaus wrapped around her little finger. Not only that, but Stefan was also on good terms with the Original hybrid. The Mikaelson's were already aware of Elena now being human and Damon's impending human life. They'd offered to keep them safe in return for Damon allowing Rebekah to have the cure once he no longer wanted to live.

If he had to be honest, Damon didn't particularly care what happened to the cure once he'd gone. If someone would have asked him a year ago, he'd have wanted to let Stefan have it. But Stefan was now flirting with the possibility of being in a relationship with Caroline, which meant Stefan's need for the cure at this time had become redundant. His brother had made it his mission to look after the future generations of Salvatore's, making it clear he intended to be sticking around for a long time to come. Damon suspected once Rebekah was done with the cure, Stefan might take it and join them in the afterlife in about two hundred years time.

Tonight however, was about spending what little time they had left with their loved ones before starting out their new life as plain old humans, Damon and Elena Thompson. Damon had opted to take the cure once they reached their honeymoon. He told Elena he had a plan of how he wanted to take it, which would be revealed in due course.

They continued to dance slowly to the music, their lips finally finding one another, kissing as if it were to be their last time. Even though the music stopped, Damon and Elena hadn't noticed. They continued to kiss until they heard clapping and laughing, only then did they break away from one another. Then Jeremy broke them up and decided to dance with his sister, much to the consternation of Damon.

Bonnie grabbed hold of Damon for the next dance. Out of all of the people he'd never thought he'd be friends with, Bonnie Bennett was top of the list, yet here she was, one of the people closest to him. Damon knew his and Elena's disappearance would be especially hard on Bonnie at first, as two out of three of her best friends were leaving. However a plan had been devised for Bonnie to live in Texas. Ric had gotten a new job in Dallas, meaning he and Jo, were moving there after Christmas. When he started teaching there, Bonnie would continue studying the Occult with Ric as her Professor, and she was going to be his employed as his TA. Caroline knew where they were moving to, but she'd asked Klaus to compel her to not tell or be able to even give a hint to Stefan as to their whereabouts until Damon or Elena were on their deathbed, because if it were Elena to go first, Damon would simply tell Rebekah to take the cure to allow him to say goodbye to his brother and be with Elena. For the time being though, Bonnie was going to she move to Dallas first and would have to stay there alone. Fortunately it was only an hour's flight or a four hour drive between Dallas and Houston, meaning they'd all still be able to keep in touch and see each other regularly. In some respects Bonnie was excited by the move, yet she couldn't discuss it at the party, just in case anyone overheard, especially Stefan. So chitchat had to be a little less open. Subject matters filtered out so there was no way Stefan would be able to trace Damon. This was going to be reflected in the entire night's conversations.

"Nice vows." Bonnie smiled as they dance. "How long did that take you to write?" she asked, expecting him to say days, considering what she'd been told about the problems Damon had had with Sheriff Forbes eulogy.

"Elena and I wrote part of it together." Damon started.

"Yeah, I could tell." Bonnie nodded.

"But the rest took about ten minutes." Damon smirked. "It wasn't hard to find the write words to tell her how much I love her and want to spend every day of the rest of my life with her, and if I can make it happen, I want us to leave this world together." he smiled.

"Like a suicide pact?" Bonnie frowned.

"No!" Damon snorted. "Merely, if anything happens to Elena before me, the green light will be given for the next recipient of the cure to take it." he explained.

"Stefan?" Bonnie asked as Damon shook his head.

"I made a deal with Klaus." Damon explained. "We get protection in return, Rebekah gets the cure. It's a future Christmas gift." he shrugged.

"Smart, getting protection from the Original's." Bonnie pursed her lips. "Does Stefan know?" she asked.

"Err, no." Damon grimaced. "If he wants it, he can take it from her when she's ready to go. "I'm going to ask if he could be first on the list of recipients when she dies." he told her. "I can't see Klaus or Elijah wanting to take it. Or god forbid Kol." he dramatically shivered.

"Well Damon, you need to talk to him." Bonnie insisted. "You need to put things right before you leave." she said.

"Yeah yeah." Damon rolled his eyes. "Anyway, enough about me. How come you're here with Enzo?" he frowned.

"Well, Enzo thought that although she might not want to watch it now, at some point in the future Lily might want to see her son's wedding." Bonnie told him. "And as she'll never see you again, this might be all she has left to remember you. Stefan wants them to reconcile, and that could happen once you're gone." she sighed.

"Well, Stefan always was a mommies boy." Damon screwed his face up in disgust. "I doubt mommy dearest will ever want to see it, because I'm clearly not her real family, but who knows. She might mellow with desiccation." he smiled evilly.

"Damon!" Bonnie chided him. "When you leave, she's all Stefan will have left. Of course he's going to fight for her." she said. "And I bet if there were grandchildren running around, she'd want to be involved."

"No way. Not a chance in hell!" Damon sneered.

"Does she know you're even leaving?" Bonnie asked.

"She doesn't care. Now Bonbon, can we stop stop talking about Lily and not ruin a perfectly good excuse to get drunk?" Damon raised an eyebrow, as they stopped dancing and made their way to the bar, leaving Elena still on the dance floor, this time in the arms of Matt.

"Well, who'd have thought it eh?" Matt smiled. "You'd be the first one to tie the knot."

"And who'd have thought you'd have been the first one to graduate to their chosen career." Elena smiled. "I'm proud of you Deputy Matt Donovan."

"Yeah well, someone needs to look after the town." he told her.

"But all of your friends are moving away." Elena frowned. "Won't you feel alone?" she asked.

"I've kinda felt that way a while." Matt told her. "I don't want to be involved with the supernatural, but it seems I'm the only one left to fight the fight." he sighed. "But now you're human, you're moving away, with the last vampire on earth I'd have expected to volunteer to take the cure. Are you sure he's not been compelled by a pissed off Original?" he raised an eyebrow in a joking manner.

"He wants a family and children." Elena explained. "This is his one chance to totally wipe the slate clean, become human. Nobody need ever see him as the big bad evil vampire. Instead they'll meet the great guy I know he is." she smiled.

"I'll have take your word on that." Matt narrowed his eyes and nodded, a smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth, clearly not believing her assessment of Damon. "Just promise me you'll take care of yourself, wherever you are." he said.

"Of course." Elena smiled sadly as they continued to dance.

At the bar Damon had gotten him and Bonnie a large bourbon each. Interestingly, Bonnie had made her way back to talk to Enzo while he decided to have a little chat with Caroline. Although she wasn't his favorite person in the world, she was Liz's daughter and Stefan's future girlfriend. Leading Damon to feel he had some kind of responsibility towards her. But there was something he needed to talk to her about first.

"Blondie, would you like to dance?" Damon asked politely.

"I'd much rather have my newly painted fingernails pulled out, if you don't mind." Caroline smiled at him through gritted teeth.

Damon sighed. "Look Caroline, it's important." he insisted, holding his hand out to her.

Caroline eyed him suspiciously. She sighed in resignation and took it. Whatever Damon had to say, Caroline suspected it really must be urgent. "So what is so important, that it can't wait or be sent in an email?" she asked as they began to move to the music.

Damon took a deep breath. "First of all, I'd like to apologize." he said.

"For what?" Caroline snapped. "There is a very long list of bad things to have happened in Mystic Falls, with your name at the top as the cause."

"For the way I treat you." Damon told her as Caroline's jaw dropped in surprise. "When I first came back to Mystic Falls, I'd had my humanity switched off for fifty one years. With a break of a couple of weeks in 1994." he told her. "When I flipped the switch back on, I channeled all of my emotions into making Stefan's life a misery until I could get Katherine out of the tomb." he explained. "Getting at Elena was initially part of that, and you were my ticket to getting to know her. After all of those years without my humanity, at first I wasn't much better with it back on." he explained.

"So what changed?" Caroline frowned.

"I met Elena and got to know her. She was the one who found my humanity and brought it out in me." Damon told her. "So, I'm sorry for the way I treat you. You didn't deserve that." he lowered his eyes.

"I'm not going to say that I'm just going to forgive you as easy as that." Caroline said. "But it's a start. So thank you for your apology. And now that I know what it's like to flip the switch, I can sorta understand how that could happen. It doesn't make it right, but when I look at how it makes you feel afterwards, and I only had mine off for a short period of time, I kinda get that you were more screwed up than usual at the time." she added.

"I can't change the past." Damon sighed. "It is one of my biggest regrets." he frowned. "But I wish I could."

"Thank you." Caroline smiled. "Is there anything else?" she asked.

"Yes." Damon nodded, now came the easy part. "Take care of Stefan for me." he asked of her. "I know you guys aren't going there yet, but it's just a matter of time. Ever since you turned, you both have had a connection, and I saw it a long time ago. Even before I got with Elena, I had an inkling something would happen between you and Stefan one day." he said. "And when it happens, you'll be the love of his life."

"Why?" Caroline frowned.

"Because Stefan hates being a vampire, except when he's with you." Damon explained. "He can be himself with you. He feels able to control his urges around you. And you are the first woman who he knew was a vampire, who captured his heart enough for him to fall for her. His love for Elena wasn't enough to withstand her being a vampire. But with you, it's not even a consideration." he smiled. "I never thought he could knowingly fall for a vampire, but you're something special to him. And I know with you, he'll be in good hands."

"I will." Caroline nodded. "I know this goes without saying, but you be good to Elena. She deserves someone decent, but unfortunately she got you." she said, which raised a small smile to Damon's lips. "However, I'm not an idiot. Together, you compliment each other, bring out the best of one another. So just promise me, you'll take good care of her. Otherwise I'll come and beat the shit out of you and you won't have vampire strength and speed to help you." she smirked.

"Don't worry Blondie." Damon sighed. "If I let anything happen to Elena, I'll be the one to call you and ask you to beat the shit out of me." he smiled.

"Good!" Caroline stated as she turned to leave, but Damon wouldn't let her go. "What?" she asked.

"Just promise me one more thing." Damon pleaded.

"Uh..." Caroline rolled her eyes. "Fine, what?" she asked.

"If you and Stefan ever, you know, get married. You will send me a video if it?" he asked almost sheepishly.

"Aren't you jumping the gun a little? We're not even dating yet." Caroline frowned.

"No, but you will. And if I know my brother, he'll want to do the right thing by you." Damon told her. "So will you do that for me?" he asked.

"Okay, but don't expect it anytime soon." Caroline insisted, pointing her finger at Damon. "Can I go now, I need a drink." she said

"Fine." Damon smiled as he glanced over to Elena, who was now dancing with Ric. As much as he wanted her in his arms, they were saying goodbye to their friends. This was as much of a leaving party as it was a wedding, so he couldn't just interrupt, although he could technically listen, but he knew that would be rude. Elena would have to stop dancing soon, her feet would be getting sore. So he grabbed another drink from the bar and watched his wife dance with his best friend.

"So do you know where he's taking me?" Elena asked Ric. Damon had been keeping the honeymoon destination top secret. He'd just told her she'd need loose clothing and beachwear as they were going somewhere hot.

"I do." Ric simply said.

"And where is it?" Elena asked.

"Let's just say it's a good job Damon is loaded, even without the Salvatore fortune." he told her. "And it's hot."

"And that's all you're going to tell me?" Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah." Ric nodded. "Damon promised to send me a picture of your surprise when you find out. I'm not ruining that for anything." he said.

"I hope he's not spent too much." Elena sighed.

"He has spent too much." Ric told her. "But this isn't just a honeymoon is it? He's chosen the one place in the world where he'd like to see the sun rise without his daylight ring for the first time in almost a hundred and fifty years. I think he wants it to be special." he shrugged.

"I guess." Elena sighed. "So, when do you start your new job in Dallas?" she asked.

"After Christmas." Ric told her. "Jo will go on mat leave, and apply for jobs there." he said. "I don't want my kids brought up around the supernatural."

"But won't they be witches themselves?" Elena frowned.

"That's why we're moving." Ric explained. "We don't want them to be part of the Gemini coven. It puts them and Jo at risk if Kai ever manages to escape from the Prison world." he said.

"But Kai is the leader of the Gemini coven. Doesn't he have to authorize that?" Elena frowned.

"Jo's father is leader in his absence." Ric told her. "He's given the green light for Jo to leave the coven, meaning the children will not be part of the coven either. If they want to join, then that will be their choice when they are older." he said. "But we can't risk Kai not listening to reason. For now Bonnie has put a cloaking spell on Jo and the twins. They'll all have individual ones when the babies are born. Bonnie will need to be there at the birth." he told her. "Which is one of the reasons she's moving to Dallas first."

"Wow, you've really thought this thing out haven't you?" Elena asked.

"Like Damon, I'm leaving the supernatural behind, and I'm being thorough about it." Ric said. " Just like you and Damon, I can't have anyone knowing where we are." he looked downcast.

"It won't be forever Ric." Elena smiled.

"It won't be for long at all." Damon's voice came from behind Elena as she turned to see her husband with a smile on his face. "I did that thing you asked me to." he whispered. "You and Jo are good to go." he grinned giving the thumbs up.

"What's this all about?" Elena frowned.

"Ric and Jo are changing their identities too." Damon explained. "I've managed to get hold of the documents and compelled the hospitals in Dallas to hire Jo under her new name if she applied." he shrugged.

"But Jo's not going to like that." Elena frowned. "She won't be getting the job on merit."

"Ah well, I wanted to make sure she would." Damon nodded smugly. "I gave them Jo's resume and asked them if they would give Jo a job if she applied. Those who said yes were compelled to take her with her knew name if she applied. Then I compelled them to forget I'd ever asked about Jo." Elena frowned at him suspiciously. "All I did was remove the barrier her fake ID would give her. And, Donovan made himself useful for once and managed to use his new found position get hold of the details of a very dubious hacker who I compelled to hack into all of the relevant systems to verify Jo's new identity, and to forget about it after."

"Doe she know about any of this?" Elena frowned.

"Most of it." Ric admitted. "Although keep the job application part to yourself. I don't want her to think we're making it easier for her." he nodded.

"Fine." Elena sighed sounding unconvinced.

"Ric, do you mind if I have a dance with my wife?" Damon asked. "I'm kinda missing her protecting me from all of these unwanted women pawing at me." he sighed dramatically.

"Which women?" Ric asked. "The Desperate Housewives of Mystic Falls, because they sure as hell would have to be desperate to look at you." he smirked as Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying I'm desperate Ric?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"No." Ric shook his head and laughed. "For you, Damon would walk to the ends of the earth and move heaven and hell. For any other woman he'd just have screw them and leave them."

"Correction, I would rock their world and leave them." Damon smiled smugly. "Admittedly, it would ruin their lives as no man could ever live up to the expectations these women would have of how a man must..." he stopped as Elena slapped him on the arm.

"Damon!" she chided him.

"But..." Damon continued, ignoring Elena's protest as he took her hand and pulled her towards him. "This woman rocks my world as much as I rock hers. So no other woman on this planet stands a chance of distracting me." he grinned at Elena. "Scram Ric, I want to smooch with my wife." he said, his eyes never leaving Elena's.

"You two are disgusting." Ric sighed, shaking his head as he walked off.

"I know." Damon said seductively to Elena as he put his arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck, allowing them to slowly dance together.

Not long after, Ric and Jo left, as Jo was getting tired, promising they'd be there the next day to say goodbye. Eventually Damon and Elena decided it was time for them to call it a night. Damon had warned her they would have a very long day tomorrow and as much as he wanted to make love to her until the sun rose, it wasn't really an option because of their long journey ahead.

As they left the party, rice was thrown over them while they climbed into Damon's Camaro. Elena could practically see his insides screaming at all of the rice getting inside the car, but he kept quiet and smiled, before driving them back to the Salvatore boarding House.

The next day, Damon and Elena hosted the goodbye breakfast. Everyone was treated to Damon's now famous blueberry pancakes. The guests included Stefan, Caroline, Jeremy, Bonnie, Matt, Tyler, Ric and Jo. It was an emotional few hours because even though goodbyes some were only temporary, others were permanent. The biggest one of all was Stefan and Damon parting company for the last time after almost a hundred and sixty seven years. No longer was Damon to make Stefan's life a misery by being around him, instead it would be Damon's absence which would cause the most emotional upheaval for the younger Salvatore. Therefore after they'd finished the pancakes, Damon took Stefan to the library where they sat and began to drink the most expensive bottle of bourbon in the house.

"Well brother, it's the last time I'll be able to do this." Damon said staring into the contents of his glass. "Soon, it'll only take me a couple of glasses of this stuff to get me buzzed instead of a couple of bottles." he laughed.

"It's the last time we'll be drinking together." Stefan sighed. "Are you really sure you want to go through with this?" he asked. "It's not too late to put a stop to it."

"I've made up my mind brother." Damon smiled. "It's time to hang up the fangs, do some real work for once, and bring in some baby Salvatore's into the world." he nodded.

"You sure you're cut out to be a father?" Stefan asked.

"I'll be the best dad in the world, just to spite our own father." Damon grinned mischievously.

"If that is a motivation for you, I know you'll achieve it." Stefan smiled. "You always relished challenging father, it was when you were at your best. Doing well by your kids is one step in the right direction to piss him off."

"Too right." Damon laughed for a moment, before his face turned serious. "Look Stefan, there's something we need to talk about." he said. "And I wanted to wait until today before we discussed it."

Stefan frowned. "Go on."

"It's about me taking the cure, and what happens to it after I'm gone." Damon said.

"What do you mean what happens to it?" Stefan asked.

"Klaus Mikaelson offered me a deal." Damon told him. "Mikaelson family protection in exchange for Rebekah getting the cure when I choose to die." he said.

"Oh." Stefan simply said.

"I would have given you first choice brother, but as much as you think you want to be human now, you've got a girl who you are clearly falling for, who happens to be a vampire. I figured you wouldn't exactly be in a rush to take it." Damon told him. "I have requested you get first choice when Rebekah wants to go, although they haven't gotten back to me about that yet." he frowned.

"You're right." Stefan smiled. "For the first time, I'll have someone by my side to help me enjoy being a vampire without hurting anyone." he said.

"Well, by the time you two have sorted yourselves out and actually done something about how you feel for each other, I figured I'd be long dead by then." Damon said sarcastically.

"Very funny Damon." Stefan said, rolling his eyes.

"Wow, we've gone through most of this bottle of bourbon already." Damon commented sadly as he held the bottle up. "We haven't got long left brother." he said, handing a book over to Stefan which had been on the table next to Damon.

"What's this?" Stefan frowned.

"Damon's book of life." he smiled. "It's full of useful hints and tips from yours truly, ranging from dating to the perfect method of ripping out a human heart, to making the perfect pancake." he grinned. "If you ever get stuck in a situation and think 'What would Damon do?', well it's all here." he said, patting the book. "I can't be there in person to guide you, but I can at least let you know how to deal with things." he nodded.

"Wow, that's...um..." Stefan frowned, lost for words.

"Thoughtful, inspired, caring..." Damon started.

"Impressive." Stefan interrupted as he flicked through the book. "You've managed to write out at least fifty pages." he said.

"Sixty eight actually." Damon said proudly. "It was the only thing I could think to do." he sighed and closed his eyes sadly and pinched his nose. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you brother. I wish it didn't have to end this way." he said.

"Don't worry, I've got Caroline, I'll be okay." Stefan smiled, although it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Damon stood up and held his hand out to Stefan and pulled him out of his chair. They took one look at each other and began to hug each other tightly, not wanting to let go as they knew when they did, this time it would be forever. Tears silently spilled from the eyes of both Salvatore brothers, because finally after years of hatred they were finally reconciled, only to be parted one final time, but this was for love. It was Damon's hope they would one day find peace and eventually, once again find one another along the way. But until that day came they would never see each other, all they would have left were memories.

There was a knock at the door and the brothers looked up to see Elena walking in. Damon and Stefan pulled apart and smiled at her. A woman with the same face as Elena's had driven them apart. Elena had brought them back together, but ultimately she would break them apart. But as sad as Stefan was, he knew he was losing a brother, but would eventually gain a new family as Damon's other parting gift to him. For Stefan, the world suddenly seemed a little brighter than it had done just a moment ago.

"Damon, it's time to go. The car is here." Elena told him.

"Car?" Stefan frowned.

"Oh yeah, one more thing." Damon grinned, taking something out of his pocket. "I need you to take real good care of this for me." he said placing his car keys in Stefan's hands. "As much as I love her, she's a little bit too conspicuous and would be a bitch to try and fit a child seat in there." he sighed. "So she's all yours brother. Just please take real good care of her." he said sadly.

"I will Damon." Stefan smiled as they followed Elena out of the library and to the yard, where outside was waiting a rental car.

They all hugged, kissed and said goodbye for about ten minutes before Damon and Elena climbed inside, with Damon at the wheel as Elena hadn't got a clue as to where they were heading. She just knew the car was loaded with luggage, some of it Damon had bought and not even shown her. As soon as the car doors were closed, Damon leaned over and kissed Elena on the lips.

"Buckle up Mrs Salvatore, the rest of our lives are gonna be one hell of a ride." he smiled as they put their seatbelts on and waved to everyone before Damon started up the engine and set off, leaving the view of the boarding house to disappear from the rear view mirror forever.

 **If you like the story, please like, follow or review. Reviews inspire me, correct my mistakes, allow me to engage and answer questions. They also help motivate me to get the following chapters out quicker.**

 ** **Mandzipop****


	3. As the Sun Rises

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).**

 **Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. They are very much appreciated. This one is very romantic, I hope you all like it.**

 **Warning for explicit sexual content.**

The first leg of their journey was to drive to Dulles International Airport, just outside Washington DC. Damon had managed to keep their destination a secret from everyone except his two best friends, Ric and Bonnie. It was lucky Damon was a very wealthy man, as this trip was the most expensive thing he'd ever paid for. Damon didn't want to risk paying using compulsion as it wasn't clear whether it would have worn off when he became human again, so he'd had to resort to good old fashioned money. He also knew it wouldn't be right in Elena's eyes if he'd compelled them their honeymoon.

However, to Damon, this wasn't just about their romantic honeymoon, he wanted to be in a beautiful place which he could fully appreciate when he became human. Damon wanted his senses to be assaulted by beautiful landscape to allow him to enjoy his transition as much as he could. Because in all truthfulness, he was terrified of the prospect of becoming a normal man. What if he had bad eyesight? Damaged hearing as a result of the war? However what terrified him most was his vulnerability and not being able to protect Elena. Of course he knew the minute she was away from the supernatural, her life expectancy would greatly increase, but he still found it a huge concern. All of this he'd managed to hide from Elena as he didn't want her to think he was having second thoughts, which wasn't the case.

Damon had carefully thought of everything. He already had his own personal fortune, and not just the money tied to the Salvatore name. His own reserves ran into the millions, which over they years had been invested wisely. He'd made most of his money on the stock market, plus he owned a few of his own business ventures, including the bar in Houston. Although he owned the businesses, he never ran them hands on. The only reason he was even considering working in his own bar was to give him something to do. If he didn't like it, he could always study and take one of his degrees further. He could always become a lawyer as h'd studied Law at Duke in the early noughties, which was how John Gilbert had found him and put Isobel in contact with him.

Whatever career path Damon chose, it would be dropped as soon as they started a family. He and Elena had discussed the matter at length, and Damon had decided becoming a stay at home father would be the most productive thing he could offer the world. He'd taken too many lives over the years, therefore he decided if he was going to contribute to furthering the human race, he was going be make damn sure whoever they brought into the world would be loved and respectable. Damon believed close, hands on parenting was the key to the future of their children. So while Elena was out saving lives, Damon would raise their family. But first things first, Damon needed to become human to start their new adventure, and he'd found the most idyllic setting for it.

On the drive to the airport, both he and Elena had been relatively quiet. Both deep in thought about what and who they'd just left behind. They were both aware of how much the separation would initially hurt, but in the long run it was for the best. Because no matter what, even if Damon didn't take the cure, Elena had, which would make her vulnerable. The moment she took it, she became a target, although at the time nobody was aware and they planned to keep it that way. Removing the cure from Elena wouldn't do her much harm. Maybe she'd age a little, but not enough to notice any difference. However if someone took it from Damon, he'd be dead within weeks, months at the most, hence the change of ID and move to Houston.

Elena herself was worried about Damon. For her taking the cure hadn't produced much of a change because she'd only been a vampire for a short period of time, and the blood on her hands was relatively minor compared to what many other vampires had done, especially Damon. She wasn't sure how he would cope with the guilt of all of the death and havoc he'd caused over the years. Not only that, but Damon was powerful and strong, he'd been a vampire for so long, he barely remembered what the human version of himself was like. Fortunately Damon's strength of character was one of his most impressive points, and Elena just hoped that it would stay with him once he'd taken the cure. Because if it did, Elena was confident even as a human, he'd be able to take on the world.

Once they entered the airport, Elena began to get nervous. Not because she was afraid of flying, but because she had absolutely no idea where Damon was taking her. Over the course of the past week, she'd tried everything to get even the smallest clue from either Damon Ric or Bonnie. Apparently Damon had told the latter to check whether Elena would like the location he was taking her. As far as Elena concerned, it was a mute point as she hoped they were going to spend most of it in bed making love like typical honeymooners.

When Damon finally spotted their flight, Elena was a little confused. He'd told her to bring light clothing as it would be warm, but a British Airways flight to London Heathrow didn't shout out a guarantee of warm weather to her.

"Um, Damon. I thought we were going somewhere warm." she frowned as Damon led her to the first class lounge.

"We are." Damon replied. "This is the first flight. We have to change in London." he told her. "We've got a lengthy wait between flights. I want to make sure I'm fully fed before our connecting flight." he told her. "There's a hospital close by. I couldn't exactly bring blood bags with me. After that we have another flight. When we get there I'll head straight to the local hospital to pick up some more blood bags to keep me going until the time is ready for me to take the cure." he said. "I just want to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"I know." Elena put her hand on Damon's thigh.

"Alternatively, we could always use a syringe." Damon suggested.

"You told me when you love and trust someone, it feels good." Elena argued. "I want you to do it the right way, which is the old fashioned way." she insisted.

"But you'll have bite marks on your neck." Damon said quietly.

"I'll cover it up, people will think it's a hickey." Elena shrugged.

"Well if you insist, I want to make sure I am well fed before I do it." Damon sighed. "I don't want to risk taking too much."

"I trust you." Elena smiled. "Out of all of the vampires I know." she whispered. "You have the greatest amount of restraint when it comes to fighting that part of your nature. Anyway, I want a tiny little scar as a reminder of what we both were. It represents what we did to be together."

"Okay." Damon nodded in agreement. "I promise to make it memorable in the best way for us both." he said as he leaned over and kissed her, just as the announcement came to inform them it was time to board their flights.

A little over eight hours later, they touched down at Heathrow. They had approximately and eleven hour wait until their next flight which gave them plenty of time to catch the tube, and spend a couple of hours window shopping in Knightsbridge and Damon grabbing some blood bags from one of the local hospitals. Eventually they made their way back to the airport. When Elena reached the first class lounge and saw their destination, her jaw dropped.

"Damon, you can't be serious." Elena frowned.

"Oh yeah." Damon nodded smugly.

"But..." she started.

"Look." Damon interrupted her. "I wanted it to be perfect and romantic. And the location is idyllic. Private, beautiful. The weather should be perfect." he smiled. "And I wanted the perfect honeymoon and the perfect spot to become human again." he shrugged.

"And you think the Seychelles is perfect for that?" Elena raising an eyebrow. "The hotels are really expensive."

"Pft. Who said anything about a hotel?" Damon laughed. "We've got our own villa at a very exclusive resort."

"How did you manage that without compulsion?" Elena asked.

"True, this place is a bitch to book." Damon told her. "So I've been waiting for cancellations over the past two years. Ever since I realized I wanted to marry you. I just needed to wait until you were ready to marry me." he said kissing her. "Why do you think I wanted to rush the wedding? They had a two week spot which had been canceled the day earlier. I confirmed the booking right away." he told her.

"Okay, so now I'm officially excited." Elena grinned. "I'm never going to sleep on the flight."

"You'll need to." Damon smirked. "I intend to make love to you all day. This is my last day as a vampire. I want to make sure I live it the best way possible." he said as the announcement was made for them to board their flight.

Eleven hours later they disembarked the plane at Seychelles International Airport. Damon made a trip to the local hospital to get some blood bags to keep him going until he became human again. Elena had managed to sleep during the flight, but she was still exhausted. However, they still hadn't finished their traveling. After they'd been to the hospital, they boarded a helicopter as their destination wasn't on the main island. Instead they were flying to Ile du Nord, and the most exclusive resort in the Seychelles.

Once they stepped down from the chopper, they were greeted by the staff and taken to their destination, the exclusive Villa North, where their luggage was already unpacked and put away. Even though she'd been used to mingling with wealthy people, Elena had never experienced such opulence.

The villa was set in the backdrop of granite boulders, with what seemed to be their own private beach. The turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean almost on their doorstep, with just white powdery sand to separate them. The design of the villa was modern yet rustic, seemingly in keeping with the outdoor natural surroundings. They were surrounded by coconut trees, sheltering some of the outdoor decks, allowing a little shade from the scorching heat. The villa also had its own pool.

The bed itself was a four poster, which was easily as large as Damon's bed at home. As that thought crossed Elena's mind, her heart tugged at the thought of never seeing Damon's room again. Never getting the chance to sleep in his huge comfortable bed. A lump rose to Elena's throat, at the thought of what she'd lost combined with the overwhelming beauty of their home for the next two weeks.

"Well?" Damon asked. "Did I find the perfect honeymoon destination?"

Elena threw her arms around him. "It's too much." she said. "But other than that, yes it's perfect." she smiled although there were tears in her eyes.

Damon took Elena's hand in his. "Come with me!" he said, kicking his shoes off, which Elena copied. He led her down to the beach as they walked with the sand warming their feet. "See over there?" Damon asked pointing to the horizon.

"Yeah.!" Elena frowned suspiciously.

"Sunrise at six twenty eight." he told her. "That's when I'm taking the cure." he said. "As the sun comes up, I'll leave the darkness of vampirism with the night, and welcome the day on the beach with you, watching the sunrise, while my body changes into that of a human man." he smiled.

"Oh my god, that's beautiful." Elena gasped with surprise of how romantic Damon had truly wanted to make this moment.

"I've ordered a picnic breakfast on the beach for six am." Damon explained. "They butler won't come back until I tell him. Which means, you and I will have the privacy to watch the sunrise while I take the cure. We can then eat breakfast, our first human meal together. Or we can do other things." he winked. "You have no idea how hard it is to find the perfect east facing beach. I wanted to do it at sunrise. And if we get really lucky, we might see a green turtle come and nest on the beach." he grinned.

"Wow, you really thought of everything didn't you." Elena smiled. "Did you think to bring condoms?" she asked raising an eyebrow, as Damon's face was filled with horror. "You know, making love takes on a very different meaning when you can create life with it." she said.

"Um..um..." Damon winced. "I haven't had to think about that kind of thing for almost a hundred and seventy years." he explained. "It's going to have to take some getting used to."

"Don't worry." Elena smiled. "I had a shot which prevents pregnancy just after you proposed and told me you wanted to be human. It lasts for three months. So no need to worry about me getting pregnant." she said as Damon breathed in a huge sigh of relief. "Let's get you settled in as a human first before we think about anything drastic, like starting a family." she said.

"Doesn't mean we can't practice." Damon smirked as he picked Elena up bridal style and vamp-sped her into the bedroom.

Once they'd made love in the bedroom and bathroom, they had dinner in their villa. Although it was still only early evening, they were exhausted from the traveling. Therefore Damon and Elena ended up in bed by eight, and fast asleep, a combination of jet lag and knowing they had to be up for five so they could shower and be ready for Damon to take the cure.

The next morning, they made it down to the beach while still under the stars, although the sky was getting lighter towards the horizon. The picnic had been placed to perfection to allow them to watch the sunrise in peace and quiet, unless a green turtle decided to come ashore and nest. The temperature was still warm, but the slight breeze from the waters lapping along the shore helped keep them cooler. Elena wore a white bikini and peach sarong, while Damon wore a pair of loose white linen shorts, leaving his chest bare. Not only had Damon never worn a condom, but he'd never experienced sunburn before. In 1864, people were expected to cover up for modesty, although it probably also kept skin cancer to a minimum. Fortunately, Elena had come prepared, although even she had to admit she'd nearly forgotten to bring some sun cream. After being a vampire for almost three years, she'd not had to use it since turning. Now all of a sudden, the small things which she'd taken for granted as a vampire, had to be supplemented with creams and medications.

They sat down on the picnic blanket, Damon behind Elena, who was between his legs, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. Elena wore her hair over one shoulder, ensuring Damon had perfect access to her carotid artery. Every moment which ticked by, the stars gradually began to disappear as the sky over the sea gradually turned pink.

Damon's hand slipped inside Elena's sarong and into her panties, allowing his fingers access to gently massage Elena's clit exactly how she liked it, while his lips found her ear, which he began to nibble.

"Oh god Damon." Elena's head lolled back as she closed her eyes with pleasure. "That feels good." she moaned, moving her hips allowing him better access.

"I love you." Damon whispered into her ears as his lips made their way down Elena's neck.

"I love you too." she panted, as she reached behind her and slipped her hands down the front of Damon's shorts and took his length in her hand, and started to gently stroke it. Just as the first ray of sunlight broke through, Damon looked to the sky as he inserted his finger inside Elena's core and the veins around his eyes tingled and his fangs emerged.

"You were the last person on earth I ever wanted to feed from. Ironic that you will literally be the last person I feed from." he whispered as his teeth gently pierced the skin of Elena's neck.

The combined sensations of Damon's fangs and his fingers almost sent Elena into an immediate orgasm. She had never understood why Damon, as a human, had allowed Katherine to feed from him. Her previous experiences of being bitten were all very painful. However Elena had never even bothered to ask Damon what the allure of it had been. Only now, when it was too late, was she discovering how erotic it could be when done in a deliberately sexual manner like what Damon was doing to her right now. Every time she felt the pull of blood from her vein, heat pooled in the pit of her stomach and her core began to throb greater each time. Elena moved her hand up and down Damon's ever hardening shaft, timing it with every pull on her blood. All the while the sun was rising on the horizon, as they felt the heat of the sun wash over their skin.

It seemed only moments had passed before it was over. Damon lifted his head from Elena's neck as the veins disappeared from around his eyes and his teeth retracted. Elena could hear his breath becoming ragged in her ear. Concerned, she turned her head to look at him. Damon's face stared at her in wonderment. Gone was the severity in his features, instead it was replaced by something softer, gentler, an almost innocent look in his eyes. To Elena, he looked even more beautiful than he had ever looked before.

"Did it work?" Elena asked nervously.

"I think so." Damon nodded.

"Do you want to test it?" she asked looking down at his daylight ring.

"Nope, not yet." Damon narrowed his eyes. "Although I do want to see how this body now performs in other ways." he whispered as his lips met hers. "God I want you." he murmured into their kiss.

Elena turned her body around and got to her knees. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, while he untied her sarong, revealing the bikini, which was almost negligible in what it covered up. Damon's hand pulled on the tie at the back of her bikini top, and the string from around her neck, as the small piece of cloth fell away from her.

Damon took one of Elena's breasts in his hand before he broke away from the kiss and replaced his fingers for his mouth, sucking on her nipple and causing it to pebble. Elena's fingers threaded their way through Damon's hair as her head dropped and her own locks fell down around them like curtains. Hiding them away from the outside world. Damon's mouth made it's way to her other breast and he teased her nipple with his tongue and now blunt human teeth, before he pulled away and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Gently Damon pushed Elena to the ground so she was lying on her back. He hovered above her for a moment, kissing her on the lips before making his way down her body, kissing every inch as he closed in on his target. Elena moaned as Damon kissed the outside of her bikini before pulling the ties at the side and allowing the material to reveal her to him. He kissed the curls of her pubic hair, his face soft with happiness. Damon stroked her folds with his fingers, tracing a line from her entrance to her nub. His tongue followed suit, slowly following the line of his fingers up to her nub and circling it before returning to her core. His fingers parted her labia, exposing her to him. He parted the entrance of her core wide before blowing into it, causing Elena to moan with pleasure.

"The first thing I wanted to taste as a human was you." he whispered as he glanced up at her with such an earnest look on his face, Elena thought her heart would explode from the love she felt for him in that moment.

Elena's smile faded and turned to moans of pleasure as Damon's tongue made it's way into her core which he began to use to simulate fucking her while at the same time he massaged her nub with his thumb. It was a skill he'd mastered over the decades, and much to Elena's relief, his talents hadn't been dented by him becoming human again. If anything there was an improvement as he Heat began pooling in the pit of Elena's stomach as his masterful tongue worked its magic, increasing the throbbing in her core. Elena knew he was building her up to what she thought was going to be an explosive orgasm.

Damon stopped what he was doing, just as she thought she was going to climax. His tongue made its way up through her folds, softly licking and tasing her with absolute precision and skill. Elena started to pant with desire as his mouth made its up to her nub and he began sucking on the small bundle of nerves. In addition, just to increase the pleasure flowing through her body, he inserted two fingers inside her core and began to gently pump them whilst his mouth paid close attention to her clit. Elena gripped hold of Damon's hair with one hands and the picnic blanket with the other as she needed something to ground her because she felt as though she was already flying.

Elena looked down at Damon, who's eyes were trained on her face, watching her reactions she could see his beautiful blue eyes, his pupils dilated and his dark eyelashes fanning his pale skin. He held an expression of absolute joy, screaming of lust and desire which was only matched by the sensations running through her body. Just the look on Damon's face caused Elena's heart to beat faster, her pants of pleasure increased, as did the pace of Damon's thrusting fingers.

Elena knew she was about to fall over the edge. The heat building up in her core was becoming hotter than she could ever remember. This and the intensity of the throbbing, was now beginning to turn into the white hot contractions, the signs of the onset of an extremely powerful orgasm. Damon knew Elena's body well enough to recognize she was about to come as he inserted a third finger inside her and increased the pace of his thrusting. Finally the spasms in her core exploded, and sensations began to send Elena spiraling into orbit, the orgasm was ripping through her body unlike any other she'd experienced before. Instead of concentrating on her core, it felt as though it was attacking her entire body, and the contractions inside her boiling hot core seemed to go on forever.

"Ah...Yes...yes...yes...yes..." Elena cried as she arched her back. "Oh my god...Damon...Aargh!" Elena screamed out as quietly as she could, her hands gripping Damon's hair and pulling his head in, her only way of telling him not to stop. Her body began to shake before it went rigid, all the while the spasms continued to wreak havoc throughout her body. Eventually the waves of her orgasm subsided and Damon stopped what he was doing with his mouth and gently withdrew his fingers from her core.

Damon made his way back up the blanket and hovered over her once more. Elena was still trying to catch her breath from what felt like the most explosive orgasm of her life. Damon looked down on her, his face smiling softly in a seductive way which she'd never seen before. His lips slightly parted, the pupils of his eyes were dilated, dark with lust. Yet Elena saw something else. For him this wasn't just about pleasure, it meant more. Damon loved her, more than life itself, and he'd wanted to share the moment of his transition to human with her in the only way he knew how.

"You okay?" Damon asked.

Elena nodded. "Shouldn't I be asking you that, after all, you're the one who's just become human after being a vampire for a hundred and forty nine years."

"I'm more than fine." he grinned as he pushed his hips towards hers. He'd already removed his shorts and his swollen shaft was poking into her belly.

Elena parted her legs and bent her knees. She took hold of his extremely erect length and Elena angled her pelvis, rubbing him along her folds to allow her to coat his member with her juices.

"I want you inside of me." Elena demanded.

Damon bent his head down and kissed her. "I thought you'd never ask." he smirked as he gently pushed his length inside her. Slowly stretching and filling her until they fit together perfectly. Once he was fully inside her, he pulled out and thrust into her a little quicker, allowing her to accommodate his length and girth.

Slowly, they moved in sync together, never taking their eyes off one another. Suddenly Damon thrust into her with more force than before, which Elena also matched. She didn't care if she would be sore afterwards, she just wanted Damon inside her, in every way possible. Their eyes continued to stay trained on one another as they set a frantic pace, their hips working in perfect harmony. Their moans and pants were the only sounds above the noise of the sea and the birds in the background. Elena wrapped her legs around Damon's behind, trying to bring him in closer so he could penetrate deeper. Damon stroked Elena's cheek, while she had her arms around his back. As the sun rose further, they began to sweat in the heat, which slickened their bodies as they moved together. However the sun wasn't the only heat burning Elena. What was building up inside Elena's core was even hotter, and combined with the throbbing inside the walls of her core, she knew another orgasm was iminent.

Damon slid his hand between them and he began to massage her nub. Elena wondered if Damon had a sixth sense to know exactly how close she was to her climax, or maybe it was just his familiarity with her. Whatever it was, he'd still retained this skill despite losing his vampire abilities. Suddenly Damon increased his thrusts. As his moans grew louder, Elena knew he was holding back and waiting for her to come first. Luckily she knew he wouldn't have to wait long as his talented fingers were working her up to her second orgasm. Finally the heat which had been building up inside Elena's body erupted like a volcano.

"Yes...yes...yes...yes..." Elena cried out as the white hot spasms began to overwhelm her body. "Oh my god...Damon...Damon...yes...yes...Damon...aargh" Elena almost screamed, however her voice was hoarse from the exertion and panting. Elena arched her back and her body went rigid as pleasure continued to overtake her until she felt almost dizzy.

As her own orgasm washed Elena's body she felt Damon begin to shake. Elena kept her eyes focused on him as she wanted to watch his first release as a human.

"Fuck...Elena...yes...yes...fuck...oh...ugh..." Damon cried out as Elena felt the warm fluids of his seed spill inside her womb. His face screwed up with pleasure, as his orgasm took hold of him. It was a familiar sight Elena loved, but knew this time it would be ingrained in her memory forever, but for a different reason. This was the first time his seed held possibilities, the chance to create life. Of course that wasn't the intention just yet, and they'd decided to wait a while before they tried for children, but to Elena this was the first rehearsal for the day when they did decide to have a family.

Damon collapsed on top of Elena, momentarily his head lay in the crook of her neck while he recovered. After a minute he pushed himself up to face her. Damon kissed the top of Elena's head as he pulled out of her.

"So, did I lose my touch?" Damon finally asked once he'd recovered.

"I would say it was somewhat of an improvement." Elena smiled as she took his hand in hers. "Because now I know it is a genuine talent you have, and not just because you are a vampire." she said. "Which makes me a very lucky girl. How was it for you?" she asked.

"Different." Damon frowned. "I thought vampires had heightened senses. But when I turned, I thought my heart would explode with the way I felt for you." he smiled. "So it was far better than making love as a vampire."

"So no regrets?" Elena raised an eyebrow.

"None so far." Damon laughed.

"Good! Then you wont mind me doing this." Elena said took Damon's hand and pulled his daylight ring off.

Damon gasped in shock for a moment as fear crossed his face, not used to being outside in the sunlight without it on. After a moment he thoughtfully looked at his hand where the ring had been.

"Well, that's that settled." Damon sighed. "I'm one hundred percent human. No burning in the sun for me." he grinned.

"I wouldn't be too sure." Elena frowned as she picked up a bottle of sun cream. "Let me rub some of this into your back to make sure." she said.

 **For the flights, I've used the 2018 schedules. I doubt I would find the exact information I needed to get for July 2013, so that is a small discrepancy and I'm not apologizing for it.**

 **The Villa is real and if you want to search for it to have a look and get extremely jealous of everyone who has ever stayed there, it is called Villa north and it is situated on Ile du Nord in the Seychelles. There is only one. This was why I had to make it clear Damon was already a multi millionaire in his own rights without the Salvatore fortune, you need to be to stay there.**

 **If you like the story, please like, follow or review. Reviews inspire me, correct my mistakes, allow me to engage and answer questions. They also help motivate me to get the following chapters out quicker.**

 ** **Mandzipop****


	4. The New Reality

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).**

 **I'd like to thank those who've reviewed the story so far. They are much appreciated.**

Three months later.

"Morning sunshine." Damon grinned as a sleepy looking Elena walked into the kitchen. "Coffee?" he asked offering her a mug of steaming hot coffee as Elena simply nodded.

Elena looked at the clock, noticing it was only just turned seven, she looked at Damon and frowned. "What are you doing up so early?" she asked, yawning, noticing the kitchen island strewn with pieces of paper where Damon had been making notes.

"I'm sorting through the big Halloween opening party idea's for the bar." he frowned. "I was wondering if I should add a touch of realism and offer Bloody Mary Bags." he smirked. "Have them all wrapped up all like a blood bag, something a vampire would actually use."

"Do you think people would believe real life vampires survived on blood bags?" Elena raised an eyebrow. "It takes the whole scariness out of it. People want the horror of Halloween." she said sleepily.

"Hmm, maybe." Damon said thoughtfully. "Oh, yeah, the guest list of those we're supposed to be dodging but who are instead coming, is growing." he told her, changing the subject. "Bonbon as you know. Ric and Jo are coming down. Deputy Donovan is taking time out from playing cop to grace us with his presence and is escorting Blondie in place of my brother. The updated gossip is Liv and Wolfboy are back together again. So they're coming. Jeremy of course..." he continued.

"Basically everyone except Stefan?" Elena interrupted as Damon nodded sadly as Elena walked over to him and kissed him. "This was his decision." she said as she stroked his cheek.

"He could have asked an Original to compel him not to tell anyone where we are." Damon grumbled.

"And that will work right until said Original gets daggered by Klaus." Elena sighed.

"Then get the big bad wolf himself to do it for all I care." he complained. "It didn't have to be this way."

"Have you suggested it to Caroline?" Elena asked as Damon nodded.

"I think Blondie thinks Stefan is better off without me." he said sadly.

"Yeah well, she hasn't met the human you yet." Elena smiled. "Oh boy is she going to have a shock." she laughed.

"I haven't changed that much." Damon protested.

"With me, no." Elena agreed. "You let me see your humanity a long time ago. Same goes for Bonnie and Ric, and now Jo." she added. "But only the people who were allowed to see it saw the sweet person you can be. Now you can't hide that sweetness behind the vampire facade, and you're nice to everyone, well mostly." she laughed.

"Well Mrs Biggins shouldn't let that damned dog poop all over the sidewalk without cleaning it up." he scowled.

"Yeah well, you didn't need to clean it up and leave the doggie bag outside her door with a message tied round it saying 'Clean me' did you?" Elena asked raising an eyebrow.

"Sometimes you have to use shock tactics." Damon replied innocently.

"I guess it's an improvement from ripping hearts out." Elena sighed as Damon's eyes dropped guiltily.

They remained quiet for a moment before Damon broke the silence. "It's Stefan's birthday the day after the opening." he said sadly, changing the subject.

"Look, let Caroline see you at the opening and I'll suggest Klaus compelling him as an option to allow you both back into each other's lives." Elena suggested.

"But you won't even be there." Damon complained.

"I've managed to get the hospital to move my shift." Elena smiled. "I'll miss the opening itself, but I'll be there for the last couple of hours."

"Thank you." Damon whispered. "You have no idea how much that means to me." he smiled, wrapping his arms around Elena's waist and pulling her into him.

"Oh I think I do." Elena grinned as she felt Damon harden against her hips.

"I love you Mrs Salvatore." Damon told her as he kissed her.

"It's Thompson now remember." Elena raised her eyebrow.

"Not in here." Damon said and he pressed his hand to his chest. "To me you'll always be Mrs Salvatore."

"Well then Mr Salvatore, this Mrs Salvatore needs to shower and get ready for class." Elena said, kissing Damon before downing the contents of her mug and heading towards the bathroom. "You wanna join me for a shower?" she grinned as Damon's eyes lit up before following her.

Two weeks later the grand opening of Bar Eternal was already upon them. The apartment where they lived above the bar had three double bedrooms. Ric and Jo were staying in one of them. Caroline and Bonnie had chosen to share the other room, while Jeremy slept on the couch and Matt had a foam mattress rolled out on the living room floor. Liv and Tyler were staying in a hotel just one block away, meaning they wouldn't even need to get a cab. Damon had invited Enzo, but he'd had no response to the invite, so Damon simply assumed he wasn't going to turn up.

Damon had decided he didn't like the idea of actually working behind the bar, instead it was his job to ensure the business ran smoothly. Law hadn't been the only subject Damon had studied at college. Back in the late eighties, he'd gotten a degree in business and accounting, which was where he'd met Bree, the witch who he later murdered by ripping her heart out after she tried to kill him in Atlanta.

This was a side of Damon Stefan had never known, one he had only told Elena about. Which was why, when Stefan had threatened Damon with paperwork and filing taxes as a reason not to become human, he'd given a sarcastic reply. This was the part of being human Damon had been the most confident about, although he'd have never let on to Stefan about it. All that was left for Damon to do, was to run the bar and make it a success.

The doors were due to open at eight, and there was already a large crowd waiting outside. Damon had employed two doormen to make sure there was no trouble. He'd suitably decorated it in keeping with the theme of Halloween. Carved pumpkins adorned the room with fake candles inside them, flickering to give the bar ambiance. Skulls, bats, spider webs and various other Halloween themed decorations were purposely placed across the room. The bar staff were all dressed up as either vampires or witches. Dress code for the evening was anything goes, but for those who'd made the effort to dress up, they got a twenty five percent discount off their drinks.

When the time came Damon walked outside as the crowd hushed, apart from the sound of a few female giggles at the sight of him. He took out a large pair of scissors and took the red ribbon outside in his hand.

"I'd like to declare Bar Eternal open." he called out to the crowd as he cut the ribbon and let it drop. "Have a great evening." he added as he walked inside and opened the doors fully to allow the crowd to enter.

Damon headed back to his own private darkened booth at the far end of the room near the bar, where his and Elena's friends were already sat. Music filled the air around them as they sat chatting away and catching up with the comings and goings of their new lives.

The night progressed smoothly until around nine thirty when Ric went to the bathroom. Just then, out of the corner of Damon's eye, he noticed a number of figures approaching their booth. He had no idea why but the hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he suddenly felt like he was on edge, something didn't quite feel right. Even from a distance and with his human eyesight, he could tell the group were dressed in period costume. As they arrived at the booth, Damon could make out three men and three women, who all looked vaguely familiar, although he couldn't initially place where he'd seen them before.

"I hope you're having a good time." Damon grimaced at the group who stayed silent, unnerving him even more. He glanced around as he noticed the uncomfortable looks from Bonnie, Liv and Caroline. These were not ordinary customers, he could tell. His suspicion was confirmed when he heard a woman's voice, which he immediately recognized from behind the group of strangely dressed people in front of them.

"I believe you forgot my invite." the woman said as the group parted and his mother stood in front of him.

"How did you find out about tonight?" Damon eyed her.

"I told her." Enzo announced as he emerged from behind Lily.

"You remember my children." Lily smiled as she opened her arms to introduce the six people around her. "You met them in the Prison World, remember?" she smiled sweetly.

Damon stood up in anger. "What have you done with Stefan?" he demanded angrily.

"What does it matter?" Lily asked. "There's nothing you can do to help him, you're outnumbered." she smiled smugly. "Where's Elena?" she asked.

Damon noticed Bonnie closing her eyes and screwing her face up, he knew that look, she was trying to give Lily a witchy aneurysm, yet for some reason it wasn't working.

"It's none of your damned business where she is." he scowled at his mother.

"You know Bonnie, that's not going to work" came a voice from behind Damon which sent chills down his spine. One he'd never wanted to hear again. But considering who the group of people surrounding them were, it shouldn't have come as any surprise he would be with them. Slowly Damon turned to see the smug face of Kai Parker, sat in Ric's seat next to Jo, with a machete in his hand. "Miss me?" he grinned as he ran the blade into Jo's chest. " _Invisique_!" he cried and disappeared.

Caroline tried to rush over to help Jo, but her neck was suddenly snapped by an invisible force and she fell to the floor. The next moment blood began to seep out of Liv's lower abdomen as she screamed with pain. Tyler waved his arms around to try and stop the culprit, but Kai had was nowhere to be found.

One of the girls stood with Lily turned to Damon's mother angrily. "You never told us she was pregnant." she said with an English accent.

"What does it matter?" Lily spat. "Kai is making sure the Gemini Coven can never have another set of twins to replace him and put us back in that Prison World." she said. "While ever he is in charge, we are safe." she assured the girl, who closed her eyes and began to move her lips although Damon couldn't make out what she was saying.

"If you believe that, then you're an idiot." Damon cried. "He's a psychopath. He'll kill you the moment he gets bored." he added as he turned his attention to Jo who was bleeding profusely from the chest. "Jo!" he cried, cradling her head as Ric emerged from the men's room.

"JO!" Ric screamed as he ran over to them.

Suddenly everything seemed to turn into a scene from a horror movie. Chandeliers crashed to the ground, trapping customers beneath them. The bottles from behind the bar exploded, sending glass flying everywhere. Chairs took off into the air. People were screaming, frantically trying to leave, without success as the doors were sealed shut. The music stopped as Kai reappeared with a microphone in his hand, standing on the small stage near the bar reserved for bands, dj's and karaoke.

"I'm sorry for being a partypooper and all." Kai announced feigning sadness. "But, I can't allow the Gemini Coven to move on now that I'm it's leader and immortal." he grinned. "Jo's dead." he nodded towards Ric. "And sorry Liv, but trust me, I am saving your life. Something inside me wouldn't let me kill you, so I just made sure you won't be able to have kids in the future." then he turned to Bonnie. "You lied to me and left me there in 1903 to rot. Although, in some ways you did do me a favor." he shrugged. "I'm a vampire now. That gives me a permanent source of magic. Which is why I'm going to be really nice and give you, Damon and Elena a head start of a week. After that I'm coming to get you." he grinned. " _Invisique_!" he cried out and disappeared once more.

"Damon!" Lily said sternly as Damon looked up at his mother. "I would strongly suggest you and Bonnie leave here immediately. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when he finds you." she added with a smirk before she, Enzo and the rest of her family left.

"Will someone call 911?" Ric screamed frantically.

"Already on it." Matt called out from behind Damon.

Elena had half an hour left on her shift before she could leave and go to Damon's opening party. She had been shadowing Dr Shah in ER for the last seven hours. Elena hadn't decided on her specialty field, but after only a month in the emergency department, she'd seen enough to know this wasn't going to be it.

Suddenly the doctors were pulled to one side by the head of department, Mr Collins and Elena followed Dr Shah to the meeting. Elena had seen this type of meeting before. A couple of weeks earlier there had been a car accident involving multiple vehicles, which had meant a sudden influx of casualties. Elena stood at the back of the room to observe proceedings.

"So, I've just received a notification from the police." Mr Collins announced. "They have declared a major incident." he told them. "A new bar called Bar Eternal has been attacked. At least one person dead, dozens injured, some seriously." he went on. To Elena, after hearing the name of the bar and confirming at least one fatality, his words seemed to float into thin air as the shock of her husbands bar being attacked hit her. Suddenly she began to feel nauseous and dizzy. Her could feel her heart rate going through the roof before everything around her went black.

"Elena, Elena..." Elena heard Damon's voice whispering to her softly. She could feel someone's hand was wrapped tightly around hers and softly brushing the back of her knuckles.

"Damon." Elena whispered groggily as she opened her eyes to see her husband looking down on her.

"It's okay, I'm right here." Damon smiled sadly.

Elena frowned. "What happened?" she asked.

"You passed out." Damon told her. "Apparently you were in the meeting when they announced the major incident at the bar..." he started.

"Oh my god!" Elena sat up in panic. "What happened?" she asked.

"Calm down." Damon told her quietly as Elena slowly sat up from the hospital gurney, clutching her head.

"They said someone was dead. I... I... was scared it was you." she told him with tears welling in her eyes. "Was it one of the customers?" she asked.

Damon shook his head sadly. "Lily turned up." he started.

"How did she get out and find out where you were?" Elena frowned.

"Enzo I think." Damon shrugged. "We didn't go into too many details. However, she decided to bring her new family along." he said. "You know, meet the foster siblings."

"Wait what?" Elena shook her head. "But aren't they..." she started.

"Trapped in the 1903 prison world?" Damon interrupted raising an eyebrow. "You'd think. But no. they found a way out. Don't know how, but we didn't chat for very long."

"So they caused the major incident?" Elena asked, but Damon shook his head.

"No, Lily didn't. Kai did." he said flatly.

"Oh my god." Elena's hand flew to her mouth.

"He's giving us a one week head start to thank us for helping him become a vampire." Damon grimaced. "Therefore we need to get you out of here." he said.

But Elena knew Damon was not telling her something. He was acting slightly furtive. "Damon, who died?" she asked slowly.

"Look Elena, we need to leave, like now. Bonbon is waiting for us outside by the car." he insisted. "And if we don't hurry up, she's threatening to drive it."

Elena folded her arms in protest. "Not until you tell me who died." she glared at him.

"Can I tell you on the way?" Damon begged.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me!" Elena demanded.

"Fine!" Damon sighed with frustration. "It was Jo." he said as his eyes dropped.

"Ric's Jo?" Elena gasped as Damon simply nodded. Elena covered her mouth and tears began to well up in her eyes. "How?" she asked.

"Kai finished the job he started in 1994. He said he couldn't have anyone having anymore twins as he's now a vampire." Damon told her sadly. "Then we think while he was invisible, he stabbed Liv in the abdomen, his attempt to make sure she wasn't going to be able to have children either."

Elena nodded for a moment, before swallowing. "I need to see Ric!" she demanded as she jumped down from the gurney, swaying a little as she was still slightly off balance from her earlier fainting episode.

"Elena, are you alright?" Damon frowned, a look of concern washed over his face.

"No actually I'm not." Elena glared. "One of my close friends has just died and I'm not even allowed to comfort Ric?" she asked.

"Elena, it's not a good idea right now. Ric will understand!" Damon insisted. "You, me, Bonnie in this hospital, we're putting patient lives at risk." he said, trying to use her compassion as his weapon.

"Five minutes Damon. That's all I'm asking for." Elena stood in front of him, arms folded and stony-faced.

"Fine!" Damon sighed in resignation. "Come with me." he said, taking Elena's hand and leading her down the hallway.

The corridors were packed full of injured people from the bar. Most injuries minor, just cuts and bruises. The only real damage was done to Jo and Liv. Everyone else he'd just scared. In fact some of the patients, who were still in their costumes were beginning to question whether it was a spectacle for Halloween gone wrong and were ready to get back to the bar when it reopened and talking excitedly about how great the bar was. Damon shuddered at their ignorance of who they shared their world with. On the way to see Ric, Damon noticed the figure of a woman in period dress as he rushed Elena down the hall. He didn't have time to stop and look, but he could have sworn blind this was the same girl who'd argued with Lily when she found out Jo was pregnant. Damon briefly wondered why she was stalking them if Kai was giving them a one week head start, because that would be cheating, even though he wouldn't put that past Kai.

Eventually they reached a room which surprised Elena when they walked in. Damon had told her Jo was dead, yet here she was hooked up to a beeping heart monitor. Ric was by her side, holding her hand and crying, while Caroline was consoling him. As Damon and Elena walked in, they both looked to them.

"Ric!" Elena cried and flew into his arms, holding him tight. "I thought she was..." she started, not wanting to say the word.

"Technically she is." Ric nodded, tears streaming down his eyes.

"So what's this?" Elena frowned, looking around at the equipment surrounding Jo's body.

"The twins are still alive." Caroline whispered. "Kai missed his real target." she said.

"Jo is brain dead, but they are keeping the rest of her body functioning to see if they can save the twins." Ric sobbed as Elena stroked his back.

"How far gone was she?" Elena asked.

"Five months." Ric told her, his voice that of a broken man.

"There have been a few cases where if the doctors manage to keep the mother's body functioning long enough, it's possible for the babies to survive." Caroline explained. "So I compelled the doctors to do everything they can to give them a fighting chance."

"Um... don't you two think you should be halfway around the world by now?" Ric asked, choking back a sob. "Kai won't stop until he finds and kills you." he said. "And now you're human, you're both easy targets." he said.

"I did tell her." Damon sighed, shaking his head.

"I wanted to come see you first." Elena told Ric.

"Well you shouldn't have." Ric chided.

"Told ya!" Damon added.

"I wasn't going to leave without finding out how you were. Especially if we won't be able to keep in touch for a while." Elena insisted.

"Well, thank you." Ric smiled. "But you really need to leave." he insisted.

"Um... Blondie." Damon frowned. "Before we go, have you by any chance heard from Stefan today?" he asked.

"No. Why?" Caroline frowned and shook her head.

"You try to get hold of him. He'll not reply to me or Elena." Damon told her. "I'm worried about what Lily and Enzo have done to him."

"I'm not going back to Mystic Falls yet." Caroline told them. "I'm staying here with Ric, but I'll try calling him." she offered.

"You two still not got it together yet?" Damon asked as Caroline shook her head. "Well if you can't get hold of him, send in Dumb and Deputy Dumber in to find him." he suggested, referring to Jeremy and Matt, who were practically best friends. "Just keep me posted." he said.

"I will." Caroline promised. "You guys be safe." she said as she hugged Elena, but held off from Damon.

"I'm sorry man." Damon said to Ric, his voice genuinely upset for his best friend, as he gave him a hug. "Take care of yourself and hopefully these little ones." he added as he nodded his head in the direction of Jo's body.

"I will." Ric nodded.

"We'll need to find a way to kill Kai first though." Damon sighed. "Which is now going to become our mission." he added looking at Elena and smiling. "Let's go." he said as they gave Ric and Caroline one last hug before walking away, for what could potentially be the last time.

As they set off to leave the hospital, Damon noticed the familiar face once more of the girl who'd been arguing with Lily. Damon checked there was nobody around them before grabbing the woman and pushing her up against the wall.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he growled. "Coming to finish off Kai's dirty work?"

"First of all, take your hands off of me!" she demanded. "I could kill you with the flick of my wrist." she spat, pushing Damon away and sending him sprawling across the floor. "I'm not here to hurt you or her." the girl insisted, glancing over at Elena. "I wouldn't have agreed to help Lily if I'd have known the woman Kai was after was pregnant."

"Well, it's a little bit late for that." Damon scowled.

"Who are you?" Elena asked confused.

"Valerie." the girl replied. "Valerie Tulle. And I take it you are Elena." she smiled.

"None of your damned business." Damon growled before Elena got chance to speak.

"I overheard you talking inside." Valerie looked at Damon quizzically. "When you said Stefan, did you mean Stefan Salvatore?" she asked, narrowing.

"And why should I trust you enough to tell you about my brother when you are one of mommies evil little minions,?" Damon asked. "And shouldn't you already know?"

"Lily brought us straight here." Valerie told them. "We didn't stay in Mystic Falls. As soon as we were out of the prison world, we were put into what you call a truck and brought straight here. I haven't even seen daylight yet." she told him. "Lily took us to your bar because she needed help to make sure you, Bonnie, Caroline and Liv wouldn't hinder Kai. And oddly enough, she thought you were a vampire. But you're not, you've become human, how?" she asked.

"Why do you care? We're leaving." Damon grabbed hold of Elena's hand but Valerie stopped them.

"You don't stand a chance against me." Valerie warned them. "Just tell me where Stefan is and I'll let you go. I won't even tell anyone your little secret." she smiled.

"I don't know where Stefan is." Damon scowled. "And there's no point trying to compel me, I'm on vervain. But for the record, you'd get the same answer. I actually thought you wouldd have more of an idea than me as the last I knew, he was holding mommy dearest in a cell in Mystic Falls. So why don't you ask her where Stefan is?" he smirked.

"I'll ask your friend instead." Valerie told him. "I'm sure they'll be agreeable once I've made my offer to ensure the babies survive. But if you do see Stefan before me, tell him Valerie says she's sorry she's late and send him my love." at that Valerie disappeared into Jo's room.

"What was that?" Elena asked, confused.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here." Damon insisted, putting Valerie's parting speech to one side for the time being because for some reason, he knew the name Valerie Tulle, he just couldn't remember where from. Instead he took Elena's hand once more as they ran down the hallway and through the double doors, finding Bonnie was outside, waiting for them by their car.

"What took you so long?" she asked swirling the keys around her finger.

"We got hijacked by one of mom's little minions." Damon told her as he climbed into the drivers seat and Elena sat next to him. "The one who argued about killing kids." he added. "She's going to try and save Ric's twins." he told her as Bonnie frowned.

"That sounds nice and all, but what's she going to do?" Bonnie asked. "Bring Jo back to life?" she asked.

"I have no idea and I'm not going to wait around to find out." Damon told her as he set off.

"Where are we going?" Elena asked.

"Again I have no idea." Damon told her. "Just away from here and not back to Mystic Falls." he said.

"What happened to Klaus's protection squad?" Bonnie asked.

"Good point." Damon frowned. "Again I have no idea." he said.

"Then maybe we should go ask him." Bonnie suggested.

"Are you suggesting we go dance with the devil?" Damon asked.

"Let's see what he can do to help?" Bonnie said. "Offer him a few pints of doppelganger blood to make sure he has some hybrid buddies. We know he needs to keep you alive for Rebekah's cure. As an added bonus, promise to make lots of little Salvatore's to ensure the line of doppelgangers continues in the future." she shrugged.

"Do you think he'd go for that?" Elena asked.

"Why not?" Bonnie replied. "You're volunteering to give him everything he wants. In return you need his protection. Because without it, he'll get nothing." she said.

"Sounds like a fair deal." Damon sighed. "We moved to Houston to be close enough to get to New Orleans if we needed help." he said. "We could offer in a night of passion with Blondie as part of the deal." he added sarcastically.

"I don't think she'll go for that." Elena frowned.

"I thought she already did." Damon smirked.

"That's besides the point." Bonnie snapped. "Caroline is not a prostitute and she wouldn't like you making an agreement like that, especially when she and Stefan are looking like they might get somewhere. Unless of course you want to break your brother's heart." she said condescendingly.

"Okay Bonbon, fine." Damon sighed. "I get your point. But a phone call of the persuasive kind from Blondie to his Evilness wouldn't be too much to ask would it?" he asked.

"I don't think Caroline should know where we are going." Elena intercepted. "In fact, I don't think anyone should know. Stefan had the right idea. If he knew nothing, he couldn't tell anyone anything. The less people who know where we are going, the better." she said.

"Elena's right." Bonnie agreed. "Kai will try and find us. He knows a locator spell won't work as I'm already cloaking us. So he might have to resort to torture or compulsion." she said.

"Oh my god, what if he gets hold of Jeremy?" Elena panicked.

"Jeremy can take care of himself." Damon said.

"I agree with Damon." Bonnie said. "Out of all of us, no offense but you two are the most helpless."

"I'm sorry, but offense is taken." Damon snapped. "So how in all of your eternal witchy wisdom did you reach that conclusion?" he asked.

"Matt is used to facing off vampires as a human, as is Ric." Bonnie replied. "Jeremy is one of the five and the rest of us are supernatural. But you two are humans who have very few abilities when it comes to protecting yourselves as humans. You relied on your vampire powers before. So now you need to learn something new." she said. "And filling in paperwork isn't a skill which will be of much use to you against Kai, unless you want to bore him to death." she added.

"Will you two stop antagonizing each other?" Elena sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's like being in a car with two five year old's." she complained.

"She started it." Damon said as Elena glared at him. "Okay, I'll shut up." he said meekly and turned his attention to the road. "New Orleans it is, without the assistance of Blondie. Let's hope Klaus is feeling generous of spirit." he added.

"Thank you." Elena sighed as the car went quiet for a moment.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked her. "I mean you did pass out and all."

"I'm fine. Just stress and worry from earlier." Elena promised. "I was terrified it was you when they told me there was a fatality." she added, putting her hand on Damon's thigh, which he took hold of and kissed her knuckles.

"It'll take more than that to get rid of me." he smiled at Elena.

"Oh boy, you two need to get a room already." Bonnie sighed. "Don't worry about me, I'm just sat here, you know, looking out of the window pretending not to be a third wheel, or something." she complained. "Wake me up when we get there." she added, as she began to close her eyes.

"Holy fuck!" Damon suddenly cried out as both Bonnie and Elena jumped with surprise. "I know who Valerie Tulle is." he said. "Well I'll be damned." he said shaking his head.

 **If you like the story, please like, follow or review. Reviews inspire me, correct my mistakes, allow me to engage and answer questions. They also help motivate me to get the following chapters out quicker.**

 ** **Mandzipop****


	5. House of the Rising Sun

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).**

 **Thank you to those who have reviewed my story so far.**

 **Just to be clear, Valerie is not a major character in my story. However she serves an important role. This story is Delena all the way, but other things have to happen to get to the end. In a story such as this, there are many lines to follow, so not all chapters will be Delena heavy. The more witches Delena have on their side, the better.**

The hospital door opened and in walked a woman wearing strange period clothes. Recognizing her, Caroline immediately got up and stood in front of Ric to protect him, even though she knew she was practically useless if what she'd been told about these vampires were true. Like Kai, they were siphoners, which meant when they became vampires, they had a permanent source of magic to draw from, making them a with/vampire hybrid.

Valerie held her hands up in a show of surrender. "I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help." she said.

"Who are you?" Caroline asked. "And weren't you in the bar trying to kill us only a matter of hours ago."

"That was never my intention." Valerie protested. "I didn't know what the rest of my family were up to. In my way of apology I want to help save your babies." she offered.

"You can bring Jo back to life?" Ric asked with one eyebrow raised, however Valerie shook her head.

"No, I can't perform necromancy." she told him. "It takes a witch far more powerful than I to do that." she said.

"So how in the hell can you help me?" he asked.

"I can't save your wife, but I can save your babies." Valerie told him.

"Ric frowned. "How?"

"If we can find a host body who is capable of carrying them, we can transfer them from your wife into the body of the host." she told him. "Of course, that person will need to have magic in their blood to feed them."

"You are telling me you can put them in a surrogate body?" Ric asked.

"Yes." Valerie smiled. "But because the host isn't their natural mother, they will need to already have magic flowing through their veins." she said.

"You mean like a witch?" Caroline asked.

"Anyone supernatural with a womb, apart from a werewolf." Valerie explained. "A werewolf pregnant with her own child, won't turn. However if I transferred your babies into her, her body will recognize the they aren't hers so it would try to get rid of them by turning."

"The only female wolf we know is the one who had Klaus's baby and I doubt she'd be a donor. Plus she's a hybrid now." Caroline explained.

"Well she would be perfect. She no longer needs to turn and she holds more magic than the average vampire." Valerie smiled.

"Wait, are you saying a vampire can carry the babies?" Ric asked looking at Caroline confused.

"The only reasons vampires cannot procreate is because the essential ingredients to make the child die with them." Valerie explained. "However the womb can still function as normal."

"But I don't have periods." Caroline frowned.

"Your body recognized it didn't need them when you transitioned. So the hormones are no longer produced." Valerie told her. "Once a life is placed inside you, it will trigger the necessary hormones to work again, albeit only during the pregnancy."

"I wonder if that means if a living embryo is placed into the womb of a vampire, the vampire could have children." Caroline frowned.

"Like a migical version of IVF?" Ric asked as Caroline shrugged. "So technically Caroline for instance could carry the twins?" he asked, turning to Valerie.

"In theory yes." Valerie nodded. "But she is only a young vampire and not very powerful yet. It would be difficult for her to complete the pregnancy. In fact it would be so dangerous, in all likelihood, it would kill her." she warned. "And we don't know whether they are witches or siphoners." she explained. "If it is the latter, we either need a very old vampire, a powerful witch, or someone who has the capabilities to do both."

"And what makes you think they might be siphoners?" Ric frowned.

"Inbreeding is what creates the siphoning mutation." Valerie said. "Once it is in the bloodline, then it will happen again. As Kai and Jo were twins, the chances of her being pregnant with siphoners is high."

"And how can we find out?" Ric asked.

"I can check for you?" Valerie told him.

Caroline folded her arms. "And how can we know to trust you?" she asked. "I mean seriously. You were part of the group who led Kai to us and killed Jo."

"Like I said, I knew nothing of Lily's plans." Valerie insisted. "She told us to follow Oscar, who apparently knew Damon before he became a vampire. She then instructed us to wait for her. If I'd have known she and Kai planned to kill a pregnant woman, I wouldn't have had anything to do with it. And that was why I was angry when I saw what happened." her eyes dropped.

"But you're evil, you were placed in the Prison World." Caroline raised an eyebrow.

"I was placed in there for two reasons, and not because I'm evil." Valerie told them. "I'm a siphoner, an abomination of nature in the eyes of witches. I was cast out by my coven as soon as it was discovered what I was and Lily raised me from being a child. The other reason was my companions." she explained. "Lily is a ripper and her partner Julian was an evil monster who destroyed villages all over Europe. My fellow heretics weren't much better either." she sighed.

"So are we to think you are a bunny munching pacifist when you hang out with that group of sadists?" Ric asked.

"When I feed I do not kill." Valerie told them. "It is there to sustain me, however you now have what are called blood bags. I'd be much happier on a diet of those, knowing no harm came to anyone donating it. What Lily and Kai did was something I hate more than anything in the world. Under no circumstances should a pregnant woman or child be killed." she said angrily.

"Why do you feel so strongly about it?" Caroline asked suspiciously.

"Let's just say I once had a friend who had her child taken away from her without her permission. It devastated her so much she eventually killed herself." Valerie said sadly.

"Oh, sorry to hear that." Caroline said softly.

"It was a long time ago." Valerie said. "But I've carried it with me all of this time." she shrugged.

"Fine." Ric sighed. "Find out if they are siphoners or not." he nodded.

Valerie walked over to the bed and laid her hands flat on Jo's stomach. And orange glow emitted from where she rested them, however she quickly pulled them away.

"They're siphoners alright." she told him. "Powerful ones too. They'd kill Caroline if she tried to carry them, and they can't stay inside Jo much longer. Without their mother providing the magic they need, they will die." she said.

"Jo wasn't a witch anymore, she'd given away her magic." Ric frowned.

"Maternal magic is a different form of magic." Valerie explained. "It isn't magic to be used to create spells. Think of it more like food for the babies. It's in her blood, but only when the mother is living."

"Great." Ric sighed. "Where do we find a vampire or witch who not only can, but wants to let the babies grow inside her." he frowned.

"I'll do it." Valerie offered.

"No offense, but we don't know you, let alone trust you." Caroline said. "How do we know you haven't been sent by Lily to check her evil plan has worked?" she asked.

"What about if I prove myself to you?" Valerie asked as Caroline looked at each other before turning back to Valerie.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Caroline asked.

"I'll save Stefan for you." she smiled.

"And what's in this for you?" Ric asked.

"Honestly?" Valerie asked. "The experience. I turned when I was young. All I ever wanted was to have children of my own some day, but alas it was not to be. The children may not be mine, nor will I have any rights to them, but the thought of bringing life into the world fills me with a sense of joy." she smiled turning to Caroline. "Caroline, as a woman who will never be able to have children of your own, this would be the closest you would be able to get to experience what it is like to be an expectant mother. Would you want to do it if you could?" she asked.

Caroline though for a moment and nodded sadly. "I guess I get why you would want to do it, yes." she nodded.

"So what now?" Ric asked. "I need to know you are really wanting to help us. Why do you think saving Stefan will be enough to convince us?"

"Stefan and I knew each other before we were vampires." Valerie simply said. "Lily asked me to keep an eye on him, so I did."

"How long do I have to decide?" Ric asked.

"A week, at the very most." Valerie told him. "By then the magic will be out of her system and the babies will begin to starve if they don't have a source of magical nourishment."

"Fine, go find and rescue Stefan." Ric said. "I'll hear what he has to say. Then I'll make my decision based on his opinion."

"I'm glad you listened to reason." Valerie smiled as she walked towards the door. "I'll go and see if I can get him." she told them before leaving.

"Wakey wakey, rise and shine." Bonnie heard Damon's voice as she opened her eyes.

"Are we here?" Bonnie asked groggily.

"Apparently." Elena replied as Bonnie yawned and stretched. She looked around and saw the beautiful old fashioned buildings of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Damon got out of the car and checked his phone. "This is the one." he called out, his head nodding towards a red brick building, with green shutters and what looked like a large white entrance. Just as Damon was about to knock, a woman's face appeared.

"Are you Damon?" she asked as Damon frowned and looked behind at Elena and Bonnie him before returning to face the woman.

"Who's asking?" he asked.

"Freya Mikaelson." the woman said. "And you must be Elena and Bonnie." she smiled.

"I'm Elena." Elena smiled.

"We've been expecting you." Freya opened the outer door and led them into what looked like a yard. There were windows with shutters and a set of stairs leading to a balcony.

"How did you know we were coming?" Damon frowned. "We didn't call."

"We were tracking you." Klaus's voice came from behind as the three of them jumped and turned to see the Original hybrid walking towards them with his arms behind his back. "Welcome to the Abattoir." he said opening his arms out. "Your new temporary home. Follow me." he said as he quickly walked up the steps to the upper level.

Damon, Elena and Bonnie all followed him as he went through a doorway and into a room which looked like some kind of parlor.

"Sit." Klaus told them as Freya joined them. "I see you have met my sister Freya." Klaus smiled. "Now that we are all acquainted, time to get down to business." he started.

"You were supposed to keep us under your protection." Damon scowled. "How in the hell am I supposed to donate blood if I'm dead and there's none to donate?" he sneered.

"We were keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity. However we have some rather pressing concerns here which required far more attention than my sister's desperate need for her humanity." Klaus told him. "Word spread of what happened when Finn and Kol died, let us say it has created friction among the sire lines." he said. "Each are trying to destroy the other."

"Well if you ask me, without the white oak stake, they're screwed." Damon nodded.

"They're trying to pit us against one another." Klaus explained.

"Warring Mikaelsons's, is not exactly a new concept." Bonnie sighed.

"No, but it would serve you all well to keep out of sight." Klaus warned them. "I can keep you here only temporarily." he said.

"I'm not sure I can keep them off the radar for long." Freya warned him. "I can create a safe house, but it only works to hide supernatural creatures. Bonnie would be fine, but Damon and Elena are human." she said. "I could try cloaking them, but if the leader of the Gemini Coven is trying to find them, it is only a matter of time."

"He is merely a witch, surely you can hide them from him." Klaus asked Freya.

"He's not just a witch." Bonnie interjected. "He's a vampire too."

"That's impossible!" Klaus's eyes lit up in fury.

"Well actually it's not, because technically he's not a witch." Damon explained. "He was a siphoner, but when he became a vampire..."

"He found a permanent source of magic, from which he was able to draw on, giving him the abilities of a witch." Freya sighed as Damon nodded.

"He's also a psychopath." Elena added. "At least you do things for a reason, even if it evil and makes no sense to anyone else. Kai kills and tortures for fun."

"He had no real emotions as a human." Bonnie told them. "He killed his family in cold blood. He tried to kill his younger siblings who were about three or four at the time." she added. "That's why he was sent to the Prison World."

"Well he sounds nice." Freya folded her arms.

"He's a real charmer, if you're a fan of Norman Bates." Damon smirked.

"And he is who you are running from?" Klaus asked.

"And mom." Damon nodded. "She set us up."

"So let me get this straight, your mother is still alive." Klaus asked as Damon nodded. "Funny thing, Stefan never mentioned anything about her." he said,

"We only just found out she was a vampire. A ripper at that. You two should get along famously." Damon grimaced. "She replaced us with a family of weird siphon vampire witch people, with very bad taste in clothes." he told Klaus.

"Elena." came Elijah's voice from behind. "Damon, Bonnie. For what do we owe the pleasure?" he smiled as they turned to look at him.

"They're being hunted." Klaus told him. "I offered my protection." he added.

"Now why would you do that brother?" Elijah frowned before raising an eyebrow and coming in to take a closer look. "You're human." he said in shock. "How?"

"A one time only, pharmaceutical's store on an island just off the coast of Nova Scotia." Damon explained. "Limited stock only." he nodded.

"Well, Damon Salvatore, of all people, human." Elijah laughed before turning to Klaus. "We are in the middle of a war here brother. Why would you want them here? Or are you planning on creating more hybrids?" he asked.

"Now you come to mention it, I wouldn't mind a couple of liters doppelganger blood." Klaus grinned. "That's if you don't mind donating to a good cause."

"And you think that is the right way to treat the wolves?" Elijah frowned. "Hayley would be livid?" he said angrily.

"It's not for him, it's for me." Freya announced. "Doppelganger blood is extremely rare and only a couple of drops ever need to be used in a spell. Two liters of carefully preserved blood should be enough to last me a lifetime of magic."

"You don't want to make more hybrids?" Elena asked confused.

"The hybrids proved to be a pesky lot." Klaus shrugged. "Safe to say I no longer have any need for them."

"Am I missing something here?" Bonnie asked confused.

"Ah yes, Bonnie Bennett." Klaus sighed. "You see, my deal was to keep Damon and Elena safe. You weren't part of the equation. So why exactly are you here?"

"I'm at the top of Kai's hit list." Bonnie sighed.

"And that is my problem how exactly?" Klaus frowned.

"I think what they mean brother, is that they come as a package deal." Elijah suggested.

"We can't keep you here for long." Klaus told them. "I don't want you putting my daughter at risk." he said sternly.

"Wow, fatherhood really did a number on you huh?" Damon asked.

"Good for you!" Elena smiled.

"Look, I might have an idea." Freya told them. "But I will need Elena's blood, a vial of Damon's blood and the help of Bonnie." But first I think they need some rest." she suggested. "It will give me time to see if what I'm planning will work." she said. "I'll show them to their rooms." she offered. "Follow me." she said as Damon, Elena and Bonnie followed her down the hallway and to their respective bedrooms.

Damon and Elena closed the door and Bonnie followed Freya to the next room. Before Freya could leave, Bonnie grabbed her arm.

"What are you planning?" Bonnie asked suspiciously.

"I'm one of the most powerful witches alive right now." Freya whispered. "I can already hide you and it would take an immense amount of power for Kai to track you. Which right now I doubt he has access to, although that could change." she told her. "But Damon and Elena are human, the spell I have in mind won't work on them." she said. "Not yet anyway."

"So what can you do?" Bonnie frowned.

"I need to find a way to make the appear supernatural." Freya replied. "And as their bodies have housed the cure, let's hope that is enough for a start. Goodnight Bonnie." she smiled and walked away.

The next day, Valarie arrived at the Salvatore Mansion. Her excuse for staying behind in Houston had been to check whether Jo was dead or not. Technically she was, but she knew nobody would assume the twins had survived. Right now, nobody at the house knew how close she and Stefan had been, but it was only a matter of time before Lily did what Valerie suspected she would and had Julian's body restored with his soul which currently resided in the Phoenix stone. He was the one who reall knew the extent of their relationship. By the time she'd gotten back, Oscar had already left to retrieve the Phoenix stone. Valerie wasn't surprised to find Kai still with them, albeit on some shopping spree. His head start for Damon, Elena and Bonnie had nothing to do with him being of generous nature. Kai wanted to get his hands on the Phoenix Stone. That much Valerie was certain of.

On her way back, Valerie had gone through who would be prepared to help her prevent Kai getting hold of the stone. Her best chance would have been Oscar, he wasn't exactly Julian's biggest fan. But he'd called her to tell her Lily had sent him to find the stone. Apparently Lily already knew of it's whereabouts, probably thanks to a locator spell done by the rest of the witches. Malcolm and Bo were too loyal to Lily. Nora and Mary Louise were loyal to Julian, which left Valerie with nobody, until she realized there was someone affected by the change who may have a vested interest in helping her.

Valerie made her way out to the garden where Enzo sat on the steps looking over to the lawn thoughtfully with a glass of bourbon in his hand. As she got closer, Valerie sensed his sadness.

"Can I sit with you?" Valerie asked.

"Nobody's stopping you love." Enzo replied without even looking as Valerie slipped in beside him.

Valerie closed her eyes and cast a spell she'd devised which meant if anyone was in the vicinity and tried to listen in on their conversation it would sound like they were talking about the weather.

"I need your help." Valerie told Enzo.

"To do what?" he snapped back.

"To help me find and rescue Stefan." she replied.

Enzo turned to Valerie. "And why would I do that?" he asked. "Why should I release that idiot?"

"Because if you truly love Lily, you are going to need all of the help you can get to fight against Julian." she told him.

"I'm prepared to take him on." Enzo shrugged nonchalantly.

"He's over five hundred years old, you wouldn't stand a chance." Valerie warned him. "Why don't you try it my way?" she asked.

"And how is that exactly?" Enzo frowned.

"We free Stefan and escape." Valerie told him. "I go with Stefan to see Caroline. Her and Ric wouldn't believe I was on their side until I do. You need to go find Damon, Elena and Bonnie. They aren't safe together. They need to split up." she said.

"Are you suggesting I play babysitter to the witch?" Enzo asked.

"If we are to try and take down Kai and hopefully Julian with him, we're going to need all of the magical help we can because I can't do it alone and nobody here will help." she told him. "I think Kai wants the Phoenix stone, and I dread to think what he'd want to use it for." she shuddered.

"They'd never trust me." Enzo said bitterly.

"On the contrary, if you help Stefan escape, it will go a long way to earning them your trust." Valarie said. "Because if you stay, it's not going to end well for you. Lily only has the eyes for Julian, although god only knows why." she sighed.

"And why should you care?" Enzo asked.

"Honestly, if it were just about you, I'd maybe suggest you run and that was it, but it's not just about you." Valerie said. "If we all work together, we can put both Kai and Julian down forever." she said. "I just need your help. If we can get rid of them, then you'll get Lily. But we need to be smart." she told him. "We can't destroy the stone, we just need to hide it someplace safe." she said. "What do you know about the Gemini coven?" she asked.

"They have a lot of twins, so what of it?" he asked wearily.

"They placed us and Kai into a Prison World." Valerie explained. "Where do you think they got the idea to send us to a Prison World?" she asked, but Enzo shrugged and shook his head. "The Phoenix Stone is about trapping vampire souls inside the stone itself and forcing you to relive your own personal day in hell over and over again." she said, but Enzo still looked at her blankly. "The Prison World is based upon the Phoenix Stone. Which makes you wonder how the Gemini Coven ever managed to gain the power and knowledge to create the Prison World. Kai hasn't run yet because he's waiting for the Phoenix Stone. But I somehow think he isn't intent on just trapping vampires."

"What makes you think that?" Enzo asked. "And why should I even care?"

"The Phoenix Stone could become a powerful tool in the wrong hands." Valerie told him. "For a siphoner, our magic becomes more powerful when we have access to more magical beings or items. For instance, I could create a light breeze if I were to do it on my own. If I touch you and channel the magic from your vampirism, I could create great gusts of wind." she explained. "There are thousands of vampire souls trapped inside the stone, imagine the amount of power Kai would have if he ever managed to get his hands on it. We need to stop him."

"I doubt the two of us alone will be much use." Enzo frowned.

"No we won't, which is why you have to protect Bonnie." Valerie explained. "Her blood was a key ingredient to escaping the Prison World, which was based upon the spell which created the Phoenix stone. Bennett blood must have something to do with it's origins. Which means Kai needs her blood more than he needs revenge. She must be protected at all costs." she said.

"And what are you going to do?" Enzo frowned.

"I'm going to find a way to hide the stone from him." Valerie told him. "I may have already gotten Caroline on our side, but only if we free Stefan. Most definitely Alaric and the surviving member of the Gemini coven Liv and her boyfriend, Tyler." she said. "I spoke to them in the hospital after I talked with Caroline. He thinks he knows some people who can help."

"Are you sure Lily is going to wake this Julian fellow?" Enzo asked sadly.

"Lily called for a celebratory dinner this evening." Valerie told him.

"News to me love." Enzo frowned.

"That's because you weren't invited." Valerie explained. "Oscar called this morning to tell Lily he was on his way back to Mystic Falls with the stone. Right now Lily is collecting Julian's body from the vault. She intends to reunite them tonight."

"So that's where everyone else went." Enzo sighed. "Thought it was awfully quiet around here. So what's your plan?" he asked.

"We get Stefan out and I take him to Caroline and Ric." Valerie explained. "In the meantime you go and see Bonnie." she said.

"How will I know where she is?" Enzo asked.

"Damon and Elena were already cloaked." Valerie explained. "I manage to take Bonnie's drinking glass from the table in the bar. There is always traces of saliva in drinks. I was able to do a locator and tracking spell before she was cloaked." she said.

"And you know where she is?" Enzo frowned as Valerie nodded.

"What about the Phoenix Stone?" Enzo asked. "I thought you said Oscar had found it."

"He did." Valerie smiled. "Then he had one too many drinks and unfound it. He's now trying to find it again before Lily and Kai discover it is missing." she smirked.

"And you know where it is?" Enzo asked.

"I might." Valerie smirked.

"What makes you think you can trust me?" Enzo asked.

"Because you love Lily." Valerie told him. "If you want to be with her, she has to see Julian is a monster. Now, I know of a way to make her see that, but you need to be patient. She may still want to get Julian out of the stone to answer to his crime, one of which I doubt she can ever forgive him for." she said. "But Kai cannot be allowed to access the Phoenix stone."

"Yes, yes,yes, I get that part about the stone." Enzo rolled his eyes. "So I protect the Bennett witch while you rally the troops, so to speak." he said as Valerie nodded. "And what of Damon and Elena?" he asked.

"They are heavily protected, and should survive. But they will serve as a distraction for Kai." Valerie said.

"And what do you intend to do with Kai?" Enzo asked her.

"I intend to lock him in a Prison World, one where there is no access to Bennett blood." Valerie smiled.

Damon breathlessly rested his head in the crook of Elena's neck, as she ran her fingers up his naked spine. A sheen of sweat covered both of their bodies from their frantic lovemaking. Apart from the sleeping Bonnie, the compound had emptied just after they went to rest. Apparently some issue had arisen and the entire family had disappeared, leaving Damon and Elena with a little time without the walls having vampire hearing, allowing them to make love.

As Damon rolled over onto his back, Elena crawled over and laid her head on his chest. She loved listening to his human heartbeat, it made her appreciate just how much he loved her and had been prepared to give up for her. However as Damon's fingers caressed her arms, his earlier words regarding the woman in the period clothes who called herself Valerie came back to her. Throughout the drive back, she'd tried to question Damon as to how he knew her, but he'd remained silent on the matter, instead he'd gone quiet for the rest of the journey to New Orleans. Elena wasn't sure why he wouldn't tell her, whether it was because he didn't want to say anything in front of Bonnie, or whether he was working on a plan. But now they were alone, and they'd promised to never keep secrets from one another. Therefore Elena decided now was a good time to broach the subject.

"So, who's Valerie Tulle?" Elena asked while absently drawing circles on Damon's chest.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked as he kissed her hair.

"I'm officially curious." she admitted.

"Okay, it's not my story to tell, but I doubt Stefan will be mad at me." Damon sighed. "And even if he was, he doesn't know where I am for him to kick my ass." he added as they both laughed.

"I promise not to tell." Elena whispered as she raised her head to look at Damon.

"She was Stefan's first." Damon told her. "First love, first... in every way." he added.

"Oh my god, Stefan lost his virginity to her?" Elena was shocked.

"He'd write to me about her while I was at war." he explained. "One day they were supposed to meet and she never showed. Absolutely devastated him. He was only sixteen at the time. She completely broke his heart." Damon sighed.

"That's all?" Elena asked as Damon nodded. "So why were you so cagey earlier in the car?"

"Valerie wasn't the only one I recognized from mommies group of minions in the bar." Damon told her. "Although I can't remember his name, I recognized the face of another one of them. I've been trying to think where I knew him from all the way here. Then I worked it out, I can't remember his name, but I met him while I was at war. I definitely believe her wasn't a vampire at the time." he frowned. "But by 1903 they were all vampires. I wonder what happened. Mommy was clearly keeping a remote eye on Stefan and I, even if she has been pretending not to care. I guess she waited until we were all grown up before leaving us to the wolves. Or Katherine in our case." Damon lowered his eyes. "I wonder if she'd stuck around longer, whether we'd have ended up as vampires. A lot of lives could have been saved." he smiled weakly.

Since becoming human, Damon had come to despise the things he'd done as a vampire. There wasn't a violent bone in his human body. It was hard to imagine how Damon could have turned from the sweet man she knew into such a dangerous vampire.

"But she didn't." Elena sighed. "She went on a ripper spree around Europe before ending up in the Prison World."

"And yet, Valerie has spent all of this time with Lily, even becoming a vampire." Damon mused. "You'd think her loyalty was to Lily, but if she's telling the truth, she's still in love with my brother."

"Either that or she's still loyal to Lily and is trying to befriend Stefan, Caroline and Ric and playing the double agent." Elena suggested.

"Well if she is, we're gonna need a better plan than staying here. Cause the sooner they trust her, the sooner she'll find us." he sighed.

"Are you suggesting we leave?" Elena asked.

"I'm suggesting we find out what Freya wants to do to help, and then we decide." Damon sighed. "But right now, I want to appreciate the feel of my wife's body against mine." he smiled as Elena climbed up his body and kissed him, feeling him already hardening against her.

"So soon?" Elena smiled.

"I'm eternally ready for you." Damon smirked, as Elena lowered her head and kissed him.

 **If you like the story, please like, follow or review. Reviews inspire me, correct my mistakes, allow me to engage and answer questions. They also help motivate me to get the following chapters out quicker.**

 ** **Mandzipop****


	6. The Great Escape

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Vampire Diaries, TV show or books. However I decided to have a little play around with the characters (I would definitely like to play with Damon).**

 **I'd like to thank everyone for their wonderful reviews so far. They mean a lot to me.**

Valerie and Enzo made their way into the Salvatore basement and to the cell where Stefan was being held. Only half an hour earlier, just before Valerie had talked Enzo into rescuing Stefan, had Enzo snapped his neck. Fortunately he hadn't recovered, which was useful as it would make it easier to get him out of his cell if he weren't struggling.

Enzo opened the cell door and kicked Stefan, testing the younger Salvatore's reflexes to check he really was still out cold, and also for the sake of kicking him because he and Stefan had never really seen eye to eye, a result of the conversations he'd had with Damon in their many years stuck together as Augustine vampires. Content by Stefan's lack of response, Enzo picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. In the meantime Valerie grabbed a number of blood bags from the freezer before they headed upstairs and out of the house towards Enzo's Mercedes.

Stefan was thrown unceremoniously into the back seat of the car while Enzo and Valerie climbed in the front. They quickly set off as Valerie told Enzo he needed to head towards Houston and that at some point along the way, they would part company. To ensure Stefan stayed down for a while, Enzo had vervained as they knew he wouldn't be happy about finding out he was heading towards the destination of his brother's old home. All of this was carried out in a quiet, efficient manner. Valerie hated having to vervain Stefan, but she was afraid he'd try to escape because from the little Enzo had told her, he'd wanted a life back in Mystic Falls, but while ever Lily, Kai and Julian were around, Valerie knew it was impossible.

Once they'd reached Atlanta, they stopped for a short time while they filled the car with gas, get some food and use the bathroom. Valerie and Enzo also decided they were far enough away from Mysic Falls to allow Stefan to wake up from his vervain induced nap. A couple of hours later, Stefan finally woke up and checked out his surrounding of the backseat of Enzo's car.

"Where the hell am I?" he asked as he sat up.

"Somewhere between Atlanta and Houston." Enzo told him as Valerie built up the courage to speak to Stefan.

"Why Houston?" Stefan asked.

"Because that is where your brother was." Valerie said as she turned to face Stefan, who just stared at her in shock.

"Valerie?" he asked as he creased his brow in shock.

"The very same one." she smiled.

"What?...How?" Stefan started, not knowing what to say.

"I think that's a conversation for later on in the journey when we are alone." Valerie smiled.

"Okay." Stefan said, raising an eyebrow. "So why are we going to my brother's last destination?" he asked.

"Well your mother was a little pissed off about the whole not bringing back her family saga." Enzo explained. "But luckily for them, they managed to escape the Prison World all by themselves." he said.

"Wait, are you telling me Kai is out with them?" Stefan asked as Valerie nodded.

"I was under the impression only you were to be kept out of the loop of Damon's whereabouts, so when I got the invite to the bar opening, I asked Lily to join me." Enzo told him. "That was just before her family returned. Lily decided to make introductions of the most nefarious kind."

"Kai stabbed Alaric's pregnant wife and killed her." Valerie told him.

"Oh my god no." Stefan shook his head. "Anyone else hurt?" he asked.

"A girl called Liv was also stabbed, but Kai just made sure she couldn't have children." Valerie said. "He then caused chaos in the bar and everyone disappeared."

"And Damon?" Stefan asked.

"Kai left Damon, Elena and Bonnie for the time being." Enzo told Stefan. "Gave them a one week head start to run before he came after them and got his revenge." he said.

"Is that why you put me in the cell?" Stefan asked. "To go to the opening with Lily?"

"Of course." Enzo replied.

"So why do you now want me and why are we going to Houston?" Stefan frowned.

"Ask her. She's the one with the grand plans." Enzo said, nodding his head in the direction of Valerie. "I'm just the chauffeur."

"Right now, all you need to know is Enzo is going to be protecting Bonnie." Valerie explained. "I think Kai is after the Phoenix Stone, which is why he didn't kill them all straight away. I suspect Bennett blood is needed for whatever he has planned." she told him.

"What's the Phoenix Stone?" Stefan asked.

"It's like vampire hell. Just think of the worst thing you have ever done, then replay it time after time." Valerie explained. "Very few have made it out, and those that do suffer from untold madness." she said.

"And why would Kai want this?" Stefan asked.

"I can think of two possible explanations." Valerie said. "Kai is now a vampire siphon, like me. He can constantly siphon the magic from his vampirism to use it as magic. However is isn't very powerful. The stone contains thousands of vampire souls, all a source of power. If he had the stone, he would have far more power, and it would be practically unlimited." she said. "The other option, is he could be looking to create another Prison World. It is believed the Gemini coven based their Prison World around the concept of the stone, except, instead of just holding the souls of vampires, they managed to trap the body and soul of anyone into a prison. They needed to blood of a Bennett witch, because although the stone was created by Native American's, they used the blood of a Bennett witch to make the Phoenix Stone what it is today. In essence a prison. Either way, we don't want Kai to get his hands on it." she said.

"I can protect Bonnie." Stefan told them. "She'll trust me more than Enzo." he frowned.

"I've got another job for you." Valerie told him. "I'm taking you to see Ric and Caroline." she said.

Bonnie woke in a strange darkened room. It took a few moments for her to work out where she was. If anyone had asked her three years ago she'd be seeking sanctuary with Klaus Mikaelson, she'd have never believed them. She still didn't trust the Original, but there was nothing they could do to be much of a threat to him. On the contrary, their temporary residence could be of some use to him. Bonnie got up and showered in the en-suite bathroom and took stock of what had happened over the last twenty four hours. She'd struggled to get to sleep after what Freya had told her about Damon and Elena needing to be supernatural for her magic to work properly. As far as Bonnie was concerned, the only way to turn someone into a supernatural being was to make them a vampire, and as Damon and Elena had taken the cure, their bodies wouldn't accept vampire blood, meaning turning them would be an impossible task.

She padded around the apartment looking for a kitchen on the off chance there might be something to eat. Bonnie had spent enough time around vampires to know their appetites for food did not diminish once they turned. Also Freya was human, although she looked like she barely ate a thing. Eventually she found not only a kitchen, but the aforementioned witch.

"Cereal or toast?" Freya asked.

"Toast is fine." Bonnie smiled as Freya placed a couple of slices of bread in the toaster. "What did you mean earlier when you mentioned Damon and Elena being supernatural?" Bonnie asked.

"I've been doing a bit of digging around." Freya told her. "I had a look into the cure itself and how it could be made. And it is impossible to cure vampirism, even for the most powerful witch." she said.

"But Damon and Elena are human." Bonnie frowned.

"I don't think they are." Freya said. "Well not entirely."

"What are they?" Bonnie asked.

"They're still vampires, but the immortality and perks have been stripped away." Freya explained. "The cure was only a cure for immortality, not vampirism itself." she said. "The immortality spell and the vampirism spell are slightly different. The cure takes away the necessity to survive on blood, which removes all of the other parts. If they chose to survive on human blood again, then they could. Why do you think vampire blood doesn't heal them?" she asked. "They're still vampires, they need human blood to heal them."

"Is that why Klaus doesn't want Elena's blood?" Bonnie asked, however Freya shook her head.

"They might be vampires, but their bodies function as human bodies. Klaus isn't interested in hybrids. Her blood is still as potent for magic as ever. But the moment they consume human blood, they would return to their vampire form." Freya explained.

"Are you sure?" Bonnie whispered.

"Absolutely." Freya nodded. "And it's the only way I can hide them." she said.

"Would they be able to take the cure again once this is over?" Bonnie asked.

"No." Freya shook her head. "That works only once." she said.

"So that takes away any chance they have for a family." Bonnie sighed as Freya nodded as the toaster pinged and the bread popped out. "I guess I ought to be the one to tell them." Bonnie told Freya. "But I'll need your help, just in case I need to go into any specifics." she said.

"Sure." Freya nodded and smiled as Damon and Elena entered the kitchen, both with damp hair from the shower and looking slightly disheveled, probably from not being able to keep their hands off each other for longer than ten minutes in any one given time.

The passion Damon and Elena had for each other was something Bonnie could never get her head around. Admittedly the only person she'd ever slept with was Jeremy, which had been nice, but not something which would have the effect on her the way Damon and Elena had on each other. Bonnie suspected it may have just been because Jeremy was inexperienced compared to Damon and he probably knew how to make it more fun. Bonnie didn't like to think of her friends that way, but it was something which was often hard to ignore. Their passion shouldn't have come as a surprise. Even when Elena was supposedly in love with Stefan, she struggled to keep her hands to herself when it came to Damon. She was often touching him, in ways Bonnie had often thought was inappropriate considering she'd been dating his brother at the time. She guessed Elena's nature was reaching out to her soulmate. Bonnie just wished she could find someone who had a similar effect on her.

"Good morning all." Damon grinned in such a manner it was quite clear what he and Elena had just been up to. Damon always sported a certain kind of grin after he and Elena had been making out, and considering the size of his grin, Bonnie suspected they'd been doing a little bit more than making out. "What's for breakfast?" he asked. "Would you like me to make pancakes?" he asked as Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"I've already got toast." Bonnie sighed, dreading telling her friends the bad news.

"Suit yourself."Damon shrugged as he looked at Bonnie and then at Freya suspiciously. "Why the long faces?" he asked. "Did someone steal your cookies?" he batted his eyelashes pouted his lips.

"Do you have any sense of control over your husband?" Bonnie asked Elena who grinned and shook her head.

"None. Especially when it comes to him and his desire to make pancakes." Elena smiled. "I just leave him to it, keeps him out of trouble."

"Speaking of which." Freya started as Bonnie glared at her. "We need to talk, but Bonnie wants to break the news to you." she folded her arms and glared back.

"What's going on?" Elena asked when they were suddenly interrupted by a voice from outside.

"Hello! Anybody home?" Came the English accent of Enzo.

"How the fuck did Enzo find us?" Damon whispered. "I thought we were cloaked."

"You are." Freya nodded and then her face dropped before turning to Bonnie. "But I didn't cloak you as you weren't part of the expected deal."

"I know you're there Damon, Elena, Bonnie." Enzo called out. "Look I'm not here to hurt you. Get an Original to compel me if you want. That way I can prove I'm here to help." he shouted.

"Help." Damon growled. "He fucking helped kill Ric's wife and kids. I want him dead."

"Damon, you're human. You don't stand a chance against him." Elena whispered, holding onto his arm.

Freya pushed in front of them and walked out to the courtyard to the awaiting Enzo.

"Well hello there beautiful." he smiled as Freya crossed her arms and scowled. "No need to get angry love. I'm just looking for my friends." he said as he raised his hands up in surrender.

"We're no friends of yours!" Bonnie spat as she joined Freya, ready to give him a nasty headache.

"Am I a friend?" the voice of Stefan came out softly from behind Enzo.

"Brother?" Damon cried out as he ran forward and down the stairs to Stefan. They wrapped their arms around one another and held on tight, a reunion neither had ever expected in a lifetime. Eventually Damon pulled away and looked at Stefan. "You look well." he smiled.

"I don't look any different." Stefan raised an eyebrow. "You on the other hand, being human suits you." he said taking a better look at Damon. "Have you been going to the gym?" he frowned noticing Damon appearing a little more muscular than before.

"A man's gotta make sure he's still got it." Damon shrugged. "Can't have her eyes noticing anyone else. And I especially need to make sure I'm still physically capable of giving her great sex." he grinned.

"Um...too much information." Stefan frowned as Elena approached him gingerly before hugging him.

"It's nice to see you." she smiled as she stepped back and Damon wrapped his arm around her waist. Stefan's eye's flashed all around.

"Hi Bonnie?" Stefan smiled at Bonnie.

"Hi Stefan." Bonnie smiled back.

"So why are you here?" Damon asked. "This separation was supposed to last until I'm dead. And unless I didn't get the memo, I'm still well and truly alive." he grinned.

"I'm here to tell you to listen to Enzo. That's all. I can't stay." Stefan told them. "Just listen to what Enzo has to tell you and don't judge him. He knew nothing of what Lily was up to." he said. "Look, I've gotta go. I'm on my way to Houston to see Caroline and Ric. Do you mind if I have the keys to your apartment?" he asked. "I need somewhere to crash while I'm there."

"Look brother, there's something you need to know." Damon started.

"If this is about Valerie, she's waiting for me in the car." Stefan smiled. "She's going to explain what happened and why she never turned up." he said. "But for now I need to leave, I'll let you know what her excuse was." he smiled and clapped his arms around Damon's shoulders a little too hard, causing Damon to wince with pain as they hugged each other once more.

"Looks like we can't be kept apart for long." Damon groaned as they pulled apart once more and pulling his apartment key out of the pocket of his pants. "Let me know when you get there." he said as Stefan nodded. "And tell me why she stood you up and broke your heart."

"Take care." Stefan smiled as he gave Elena a peck on the cheek before heading towards Bonnie and doing the same. He walked to the door, waved goodbye and left, just as suddenly as he'd arrived.

Damon turned to face Enzo and scowled at him. "Okay, I'm going to trust my brother on this one. You need to explain exactly what happened and why you've suddenly switched sides." he said.

"Can we talk somewhere a little more comfortable and private?" Enzo asked. "I've just driven all the way from Mystic Falls, and I'm a little parched."

"This way." Freya sighed as she led them up to the parlor before pouring Enzo a glass of bourbon.

"Thank you darling." Enzo flashed his smile at Freya, however she didn't smile back. Instead she stood by the fire and waited for Enzo to speak while the rest of them sat down.

"What do you want?" Bonnie asked Enzo.

"Well, Bonnie Bennett, I'm glad you of all people are the one to ask me that." Enzo smiled. "My job is to protect you." he said.

"I don't need your protection." Bonnie spat.

"On the contrary, I think you do." Enzo told her. "How are you expecting to fight a vampire siphoner?" he asked.

"I don't know." Bonnie said meekly. "How do you plan on doing it?" she asked.

"Vervain him, rip his heart out. You know the usual stuff." Enzo nodded. "With your help of course." he added with a sarcastic smile.

"So let me get this straight, you're here to protect Bonnie?" Damon frowned. "The least useless person of all of us gets protection?" he asked. "Why?"

"Yes, well about that." Enzo started. "We think Bonnie is Kai's number one target."

"Why is that?" Elena asked.

"Valerie seems to think he's after some dodgy rock called the Phoenix Stone." Enzo explained. "Trapped inside are thousands of vampire souls. All a source of magic. She thinks he might try and use it to create some new Prison Worlds, as the Phoenix stone was the original Prison World." he said. "And from what little I have seen of Kai, I can tell he's a psychopath and a little shit, which means Valerie in all likelihood, is spot on with her assessment."

"I've heard of the Phoenix Stone." Freya frowned as she started to pace the floor. "Anyone who wants to get their hands on that stone is up to no good. Whether it is to release the soul of a trapped vampire or to use it as a source of magic." she said. "Although I doubt he'll be able to use it as a source to create a Prison World. Only the Gemini Coven leaders have access to that kind of magic."

"He is the leader of the Gemini Coven." Elena told Freya.

"Not if he's a vampire he's not." Freya told them. "To become a vampire he had to die, and with that so did his rights to be leader." she said. "Which would explain why he'd want the Phoenix stone. Using it's powers he could create a workaround as long as he had Bennett blood." she looked at Bonnie and nodded, realizing their was a truth to what Enzo was telling them.

"How do you know so much?" Damon asked.

"I've been around for over a thousand years." Freya told him. "You learn a thing or two." she smiled.

"But you're not a vampire." Bonnie frowned as Freya shook her head.

"Mine was a different kind of immortality spell. Like I told you earlier, there are more than one." Freya said to Bonnie.

"Are you certain he knows about the stone?" Freya asked Enzo. "What makes you think he can even get his hands on it?"

"Can you think of another reason why he let these three live?" Enzo asked the witch.

Good point." Damon frowned. "Although Kai does sometimes like to play with his victims. I just assumed it was the same this time."

Enzo shook his head. "Apparently, Lily wants to get her hands on the stone to bring back her one true love, someone called Julian." he said."Whoi sounds like a complete and utter dickhead." he added.

"Well, if my father was anything to go by, my mother has terrible taste in men." Damon agreed. "He was a certified class A dickhead, and I'm being polite in that description due to the presence of ladies." he smiled.

"Well right now he's trapped inside the Phoenix stone and Lily has gone to get his body so she can reunite them and they can all play happy families." Enzo said sarcastically.

"So she dumped your ass and that's why you've switched sides." Damon chuckled as Enzo glared at him.

"Good luck with finding the Phoenix stone." Freya raised an eyebrow. "It's been missing for over a century." she said.

"I think that has something to do with Lily having it hidden." Enzo told her. "She sent one of her minions to get it, but I suspect Valerie intercepted him and hid it in a restroom just outside Atlanta." he said.

"Which means Kai isn't going to wait a week to come looking for us." Damon shook his head.

"Which is why we need to get Bonnie out of here." Enzo told them. "Split up and you'll all be safer." he said.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"How come I'm here?" Enzo replied. "Because we tracked Bonnie. For all we know Kai may have already done the same. Even if he can't track you two." he said looking at Damon and Elena. "He knows where Bonnie is, and it doesn't take a genius to work out she's likely to be with you." he shrugged.

"Well then, as long as I'm cloaked, we'll be fine." Bonnie insisted.

"I'd leave, go far away before you cloak yourself." Enzo said. "Let Kai think you've had a stay in a motel before setting back off on the road. Get far enough away and cloak yourself." he suggested. "Meanwhile you two need to scram in the opposite direction." he said.

"And how are we supposed to protect ourselves?" Damon asked angrily standing up. "I don't know whether you've noticed, but not only are we only human, but vampire blood doesn't heal us. We're lambs to the slaughter." he cried.

Bonnie looked to Freya and decided now was the time to come clean. "That's not necessarily true." she told them. "We think there might be another way. But you're not going to like it." she said.

After Stefan left the Mikaelson compound, he headed back to the car Enzo had provided. To ensure nobody followed them or suspected their destination, they'd detoured via Nashville as an additional precaution and compelled themselves a new, less conspicuous SUV, leaving Enzo's Mercedes in storage. Stefan got in the car and he and Valerie set off towards Houston.

They'd been driving for over an hour in relative silence. Neither knowing where to start. Valerie had broken Stefan's heart the day she hadn't shown. They'd promised to meet at the bench, he'd waited all day for her with a bunch of flowers, but he'd remained there, waiting for her all alone. No letter of apology, nobody to tell him why she hadn't been able to make it. She'd simply disappeared. At the tender age of sixteen, human Stefan had been heartbroken. So much so, Damon had had to take leave from the army to console his younger brother.

On the other hand Valerie wasn't quite sure how to start. She wasn't even convinced Stefan would believe her, but she needed to make him try, because everything she was trying to do to rectify the damage Lily and Kai had caused, rested upon her explanation and her ability to make Stefan believe her. If not, the children would die and Kai could force his the leadership over the Gemini Coven if there were no twins left. The survival of the twins was essential to reduce Kai's power, because if he gained the coven and the Phoenix Stone, he'd be so powerful, nobody would be able to touch him, not even Freya Mikaelson, the most powerful living witch on earth. Kai Parker would be untouchable and indestructible. Fortunately for Valerie, Stefan was the one who eventually broke the silence.

"So I've just vouched for you to my brother." he started. "I have no reason to trust you, but I told him he could trust you. I need to know why? And don't give me the crap about the Phoenix stone. What happened in 1863? why didn't you show?" he asked. "I just want to know the truth."

Valerie gave Stefan a sad look. "The truth is... I was coming back for you." she told him.

"What happened? Miss your train?" Stefan glanced over and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Julian caught me trying to leave." Valerie explained. "He was desperate to get Lily to Europe, and... Well, he knew I'd be a distraction." she said sadly.

Stefan frowned with confusion. "Why would you be a distraction?" he asked.

Valerie closed her eyes, a mixture of embarrassment, regret and fear of his response of the bombshell she was about to drop on him. "I was pregnant." she whispered.

"What?" Stefan cried out with confusion.

"I wanted to tell you in person, though" Valerie quickly explained. "And I felt ridiculous. We... we spent so little time together. For me to end up pregnant? I just... I wasn't sure if..." she paused, swallowing to find the right words. "But Julian had already found out. He made sure there was nothing to tell." she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"What did he do to you?" Stefan asked, disgust in his voice, although Valerie wasn't quite sure who it was directed at, her or Julian.

"He, um... made sure it wasn't a problem anymore." she explained. "He knew I wouldn't be able to look you in the eye and tell you, so I left with them. I kept our secret all these years... and I'm _so_ sorry." she added as tears ran down her cheek. "Say something." she begged.

"I don't really know what to say." Stefan frowned.

"Uh, can you give me an overview of the options?" Valerie asked nervously.

Stefan sighed. "Okay, so I'm angry that I didn't know." he said. "I'm sad that something I could have had was taken away from me. I want to kill Julian for what he did to you." he spat. "And, I'm sorry that you had to go through this alone." he whispered.

"After it happened, I wanted to die." Valerie told him. "Actually I did die. I took my own life. I obviously didn't realize I had vampire blood in my system at the time..." she shrugged

Stefan looked at Valerie in shock. "That's how you became a vampire? You killed yourself?" he asked.

Valerie laughed nervously. "Far cry from the girl you met at the fair, isn't it? It's funny how one event can change the outcome of your entire life." she sighed pausing for a moment. "Please only tell those you have to. And please swear them to secrecy, I couldn't bear for Lily to know." she pleaded.

"I won't. I promise." Stefan agreed.

"Okay." Valerie smiled hesitantly. "I don't presume to know you now, or even what you wanted back then, but..." she started.

Stefan interrupted her, already knowing what her question was and his answer. "Yes. Would I have wanted a child? Yes." he smiled at her.

"Now do you understand why I want to do this for your friend?" Valerie asked. "I failed to protect our child, I want to try and make up for it by protecting his."

"Yeah, I get it." Stefan smiled as he placed his hand on hers. "I'll talk to Ric and Caroline, I'll vouch for you." he assured her as they continued to make their way to Houston.

Damon and Elena were sat in the parlor of the Abattoir, stunned by what they'd just been told. According to Freya, the cure only cured immortality and the need for blood. Without it, they were human. If they drank it again, they'd transition back into vampires, which was why vampire blood wouldn't work on them.

"Are you sure?" Elena frowned.

"Positive." Freya nodded. "I looked into what type of spell it would take to stop Silas being immortal while allowing him to retain his magic." she explained. "That spell couldn't completely reverse vampirism. Silas never had true vampire abilities. His powers were all an illusion, mind control." she said. "All that he had to do to become mortal again was to need need human blood to fuel his powers which were slightly different to a vampires. Silas's immortality was created by Traveler magic and required Traveler magic to cure him. For any other immortal, it would cure the need for blood to survive. Blood is what gives vampires their powers and their immortality. All you have to do is drink human blood again, you'll simply transition and become vampires."

"Would we need to die?" Damon asked as Elena glared at him. "What?" he shrugged turning to his wife. "I don't want to become a blood sucker again, but we might not have a choice." he said.

"No." Freya told them. "You would literally have to drink human blood and that would trigger the vampirism." she said.

"Absolutely no way." Elena shook her head. "We made a conscious decision to become human so we could have a family and a real life together." she said. "I'm not giving up my chance of that happiness."

"If you won't neither will I?" Damon assured her.

"Is having a family your reason for not becoming vampires again?" Freya asked.

"That's the main reason." Damon told her.

"And if it was possible for you to become vampires and still be able to have children of your own, would you consider it?" she asked.

Enzo smiled knowingly. Valerie had already told him about her plans to help Ric by carrying his children. A female vampire being capable of carrying children was clearly not something which was common knowledge among the supernatural. Even prior to Valerie telling him what she was intending to do, he'd long suspected it was possible for a woman to carry a child and had wondered what would happen if a woman was turned when pregnant and the child somehow survived transition. Not that he'd test the theory. But when he was being tested on during his time with the Augustine's, he'd heard enough pieces of chatter to realize vampire biology was the same as human biology. Their bodies had the same capabilities except aging, dying, producing blood and producing live eggs and sperm to reproduce. He was brought out of his thoughts at the sound of Elena's voice.

"But vampires can't procreate." Elena said.

"You're right love they can't." Enzo said. "You don't need to. Let medical science do it for you." he smiled.

 **If you like the story, please like, follow or review. Reviews inspire me, correct my mistakes, allow me to engage and answer questions. They also help motivate me to get the following chapters out quicker.**

 ** **Mandzipop****


	7. Story on Hold

I'm sorry to say but this story is going to be put on hold for an indefinite period. I will return to it at some point, but I wish to concentrate on my other stories for the time being. I am currently having issues with writers block with this story, the plot I envisaged isn't going to work, so I will have to look into making a significant amount to amendments. However I have other stories where I know exactly where they are going and I will concentrate on those first.

This is not always a bad thing as I put Inaction's and Consequences on hold for 9 months and that has come back strong, so I apologize for the time being. Hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

Thank you for your patience.

Mandzipop.


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